Robotic system for processing packages arriving out of sequence

ABSTRACT

A robotic system for arranging packages at a destination according to a stacking sequence. The robotic system uses a storage area for temporarily storing packages that arrive out-of-sequence until they are next-in-sequence for placement at the destination. The robotic system processes an incoming package, determines if it is next-in-sequence for placement at the destination, and if it is, places the package at the destination. On the other hand, if it is not next-in-sequence for placement at the destination, it stores the package in the storage area. A package in the storage area is transferred to the destination when it is next-in-sequence for placement at the destination. By using the temporary storage for storing out of sequence packages, the robotic system eliminates the need for receiving the packages in a stacking sequence, which also eliminates the need for sequencing machines.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application contains subject matter related to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/428,645, filed May 31, 2019, titled “A ROBOTICSYSTEM WITH PACKING MECHANISM,” and is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

This application contains subject matter related to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/428,714, filed May 31, 2019, titled “A ROBOTICSYSTEM WITH DYNAMIC PACKING MECHANISM,” and is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

This application contains subject matter related to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/428,809, filed May 31, 2019, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,618,172, titled “A ROBOTIC SYSTEM WITH ERROR DETECTION ANDDYNAMIC PACKING MECHANISM,” and is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

This application contains subject matter related to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/428,870, filed May 31, 2019, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,647,528, titled “ROBOTIC SYSTEM FOR PALLETIZING PACKAGESUSING REAL-TIME PLACEMENT SIMULATION,” and is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology is directed generally to robotic systems and,more specifically, to systems, processes, and techniques for packingobjects.

BACKGROUND

With their ever-increasing performance and lowering cost, many robots(e.g., machines configured to automatically/autonomously executephysical actions) are now extensively used in many fields. Robots, forexample, can be used to execute various tasks (e.g., manipulate ortransfer an object through space) in manufacturing and/or assembly,packing and/or packaging, transport and/or shipping, etc. In executingthe tasks, the robots can replicate human actions, thereby replacing orreducing the human involvement that would otherwise be required toperform dangerous or repetitive tasks.

However, despite the technological advancements, robots often lack thesophistication necessary to duplicate human sensitivity and/oradaptability required for executing more complex tasks. For example,robots often lack the granularity of control and flexibility in theexecuted actions to account for deviations or uncertainties that mayresult from various real-world factors. Accordingly, there remains aneed for improved techniques and systems for controlling and managingvarious aspects of the robots to complete the tasks despite the variousreal-world factors.

In the packaging industry, traditional systems use offline packingsimulators to predetermine packing sequence/arrangement. The traditionalpacking simulators process object information (e.g., case shapes/sizes)to generate packing plans. The packing plans can dictate and/or requirespecific placement locations/poses of the objects at destinations (e.g.,pallets, bins, cages, boxes, etc.), predefined sequences for theplacement, and/or predetermined motion plans. From the generated packingplans, the traditional packing simulators derive source requirements(e.g., sequences and/or placements for the objects) that match or enablethe packing plans. Because the packing plans are developed offline intraditional systems, the plans are independent of actual packingoperations/conditions, object arrivals, and/or other systemimplementations. Accordingly, the overall operation/implementation willrequire the received packages (e.g., at the starting/pick up location)to follow fixed sequences that matches the predetermined packing plans.As such, traditional systems cannot adapt to deviations in the receivedpackages (e.g., different sequence, location, and/or orientation),unanticipated errors (e.g., collisions and/or lost pieces), real-timepacking requirements (e.g., received orders), and/or other real-timefactors.

Traditional systems can group and pack objects according to rigidpredetermined plans. For example, traditional systems transfer and placeobjects (e.g., boxes or cases) onto a pallet according to apredetermined motion plan. In doing so, the traditional systems eitherrequire all objects at a source location to either have a samedimension/type and/or accessed according to a known sequence. Forexample, the traditional systems would require the objects to arrive(via, e.g., conveyor) at a pickup location according to a fixedsequence. Also, for example, the traditional systems would require theobjects at the pickup location to be placed at designated locationsaccording to a predetermined pose. As such, traditional systems requireone or more operations to order or place the objects at the source(i.e., before the packing operation) according to the predeterminedsequence/arrangement. Providing the packages in a specific sequence tothe robot can be a laborious task for humans. There are some machines,e.g., a shuttle sequencing buffer, that sequence the packages beforepassing them to the robot for further arrangement. However, thesemachines can be very expensive, require maintenance, and consumesignificant resources, such as space and power.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example environment in which a roboticsystem with a 3-dimensional packing mechanism may operate.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the robotic system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 3A is an illustration of discretized objects in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 3B is an illustration of discretized packing platform in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 3C is an illustration of a placement planning process in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIGS. 4A-4C are illustrations of stacking rules in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 5A is an illustration of an example stacking plan in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 5B is an illustration of a stacking sequence in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for operating the robotic system of FIG. 1 inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 7 is an example environment in which the robotic system may operateto process packages that arrive out-of-sequence.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of various stages inthe placement of the available packages on a task location, consistentwith various embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process for placement of availablepackages on the task location using a temporary storage area, consistentwith various embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of another process for placement of availablepackages on the task location using a temporary storage area, consistentwith various embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of another process for placement of availablepackages on the task location using a temporary storage area, consistentwith various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods for a robotic system with packing mechanism aredescribed herein. The robotic system (e.g., an integrated system ofdevices that executes one or more designated tasks) configured inaccordance with some embodiments provides enhanced packing and storageefficiency by deriving optimal storage locations for objects (e.g.,packages) and stacking them accordingly. In one example, the roboticsystem can organize the packages at a destination (e.g., pallets, bins,cages, boxes, etc.) based on a stacking plan, regardless of an order inwhich the packages are provided to the robot. The stacking plantypically includes a sequence or an in order in which the packages areto be placed on a pallet, among other details such as specific placementlocations/poses of the packages on the pallet, and/or predeterminedmotion plans, which are described below. The robotic system canimplement the stacking plan for placing the packages on the pallet in aspecified arrangement without requiring the packages to be provided in apredefined sequence. For example, as the packages arrive, e.g., oneafter the other on a conveyor belt, the robotic system identifies apackage, e.g., based on a bar code on the package, determines a stackingsequence of the package, places the package on the pallet according tothe stacking plan if the package is next in sequence for placement onthe pallet, else stores the package in a storage area, e.g., on one ofmultiple storage racks, for later placement on the pallet. When thepackage stored in the storage area is next in sequence for placement onthe pallet, the robotic system retrieves the package from the storagearea and places the package on the pallet according to the stackingplan. By using a temporary storage area for storing packages, e.g., outof sequence packages, and processing them later to place them in thestacking sequence on the pallet, the robotic system eliminates the needfor receiving the packages in the stacking sequence, which alsoeliminates the need for sequencing machines. Therefore, by minimizingconsumption of resources, the disclosed embodiments result in animproved robotic system.

The robotic system described herein can generate the packing plansduring system operation. The robotic system can generate a real-timeand/or dynamic packing plan during the system operation based on variousreal-time conditions. Real-time conditions can include currentlyexisting or ongoing conditions, such as actual sourcesequences/locations/poses of objects, object conditions and/orrequirements, placement requirements, and/or other real-time factors.The robotic system can generate the packing plans in real-time, such asin response to a triggering event (e.g., a received order/request, ashipping schedule, and/or an operator input), according tocurrent/ongoing conditions and factors at the time of the packing planprocessing. In some embodiments, the packing plans can be dynamically(e.g., after initially starting one or more operations, such as theactual packing operation, begins) generated and/or adjusted, such as inresponse to a corresponding event (e.g., a re-evaluation timing, apacking/manipulation error, such as a collision or a lost piece, and/oroccurrence of other dynamic conditions).

Unlike the traditional systems, the robotic system described herein cangenerate the placement plans in real-time according to current/liveconditions (e.g., source sequences/locations/poses of objects, objectconditions and/or requirements, etc.). In some embodiments, the roboticsystem can generate the packing plan based on a discretization mechanism(e.g., a process, a circuit, a function, and/or a routine). For example,the robotic system can use the discretization mechanism to describephysical sizes/shapes of objects and/or target locations according to adiscretization unit (i.e., one discrete area/space). The robotic systemcan generate discretized object profiles that use the discretizationunits to describe the expected objects and/or discretized destinationprofiles that describe the target location (e.g., surface on top of thepallet and/or a space/bottom surface inside a bin/case/box).Accordingly, the robotic system can transform continuous real-worldspace/area into computer-readable digital information. Further, thediscretized data can allow a reduction in computational complexity fordescribing package footprint and for comparing various packageplacements. For example, package dimensions can correspond to integernumbers of discretization units, which lead to easier mathematicalcomputations, instead of real-world decimal number.

In some embodiments, the robotic system can generate the packing planbased on determining object groupings. The object groupings can be basedon object descriptions, such as customer-specified priorities, objectfragility measure (e.g., support weight limitations), object weight,object height, object type, and/or other aspects of the objects. Therobotic system can use the object groupings to generate and evaluate2-dimensional (2D) placement plans that include one or more objectgroupings. The robotic system can select the 2D placement plans thatsatisfy one or more conditions/rules and translate the selected 2Dplacement plans into three-dimensional (3D) mapping results. The 3Dmapping results can describe the heights of the 2D placement plans, suchas according to height measurements of the objects included in the 2Dplacement plans and their relative locations within the layer. Therobotic system can evaluate the 3D mapping results to verticallyorder/sequence to generate the 3D placement plans that include thevertical sequence for the 2D placement plans. In some embodiments, therobotic system can generate the 2D/3D placement plans for objects in aninitial state (e.g., before any objects are placed at the destinationzone) and/or for objects remaining in a non-packed state (e.g., afterone or more objects have been placed at the destination zone). Detailsregarding the object grouping and the placement plans are describedbelow.

The robotic system described below can utilize simplified andstream-lined processing architecture/sequence for real-timeimplementation. For example, the robotic system (via, e.g., a consumercomputing device, such as a desk top, a server, etc.) can generate thepacking plan based on real-time need (e.g., received order) and/orreal-time availability (e.g., shipping manifesto of incoming objectsand/or currently accessible objects) without utilizing the traditionalsequencer and simulator. When utilized in an offline context, such as toreplace the traditional sequencers and simulators, the robotic systemcan provide the offline packing plans using a simpler and cheapersolution.

Accordingly, the robotic system can improve efficiency, speed, andaccuracy for packing the objects based on adapting to the real-timeconditions. For example, the system described herein can generate theplacement plans that match/address the currently need (e.g., receivedorders), the current status (e.g., location, orientation, and/orquantity/availability) of packages, and/or the real-time status ofpreviously stacked/placed packages. As such, the robotic system canreceive and pack packages that are in various different/unexpectedquantities, locations, orientations, and/or sequences.

Further, the robotic system can reduce overall costs by eliminating theone or more operations, machines (e.g., sequence buffers), and/or humanassistance that would be necessary in traditional systems to order orplace the objects at the source and/or for the packing operation (e.g.,for error handling). By generating the packing plan according to theexisting package states (e.g., quantity, location, and/or orientation),the robotic system eliminates the need to reorganize or sequence thepackages, along with the associated machines/human operations, to meetthe requirements of traditional systems.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the presently disclosed technology.In other embodiments, the techniques introduced here can be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known features,such as specific functions or routines, are not described in detail inorder to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure.References in this description to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” orthe like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, orcharacteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of such phrases in thisspecification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Onthe other hand, such references are not necessarily mutually exclusiveeither. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, orcharacteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. It is to be understood that the various embodiments shownin the figures are merely illustrative representations and are notnecessarily drawn to scale.

Several details describing structures or processes that are well-knownand often associated with robotic systems and subsystems, but that canunnecessarily obscure some significant aspects of the disclosedtechniques, are not set forth in the following description for purposesof clarity. Moreover, although the following disclosure sets forthseveral embodiments of different aspects of the present technology,several other embodiments can have different configurations or differentcomponents than those described in this section. Accordingly, thedisclosed techniques can have other embodiments with additional elementsor without several of the elements described below.

Many embodiments or aspects of the present disclosure described belowcan take the form of computer- or processor-executable instructions,including routines executed by a programmable computer or processor.Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the disclosedtechniques can be practiced on computer or processor systems other thanthose shown and described below. The techniques described herein can beembodied in a special-purpose computer or data processor that isspecifically programmed, configured, or constructed to execute one ormore of the computer-executable instructions described below.Accordingly, the terms “computer” and “processor” as generally usedherein refer to any data processor and can include Internet appliancesand handheld devices (including palm-top computers, wearable computers,cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems, processor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network computers, mini computers,and the like). Information handled by these computers and processors canbe presented at any suitable display medium, including a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD). Instructions for executing computer- orprocessor-executable tasks can be stored in or on any suitablecomputer-readable medium, including hardware, firmware, or a combinationof hardware and firmware. Instructions can be contained in any suitablememory device, including, for example, a flash drive and/or othersuitable medium.

The terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, canbe used herein to describe structural relationships between components.It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonymsfor each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” can beused to indicate that two or more elements are in direct contact witheach other. Unless otherwise made apparent in the context, the term“coupled” can be used to indicate that two or more elements are ineither direct or indirect (with other intervening elements between them)contact with each other, or that the two or more elements cooperate orinteract with each other (e.g., as in a cause-and-effect relationship,such as for signal transmission/reception or for function calls), orboth.

Suitable Environments

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example environment in which a roboticsystem 100 with a packing mechanism may operate. The robotic system 100can include and/or communicate with one or more units (e.g., robots)configured to execute one or more tasks. Aspects of the packingmechanism can be practiced or implemented by the various units.

For the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the robotic system 100 caninclude an unloading unit 102, a transfer unit 104 (e.g., a palletizingrobot and/or a piece-picker robot), a transport unit 106, a loading unit108, or a combination thereof in a warehouse or a distribution/shippinghub. Each of the units in the robotic system 100 can be configured toexecute one or more tasks. The tasks can be combined in sequence toperform an operation that achieves a goal, such as to unload objectsfrom a truck or a van and store them in a warehouse or to unload objectsfrom storage locations and prepare them for shipping. For anotherexample, the task can include placing the objects on a target location(e.g., on top of a pallet and/or inside a bin/cage/box/case). Asdescribed below, the robotic system can derive plans (e.g., placementlocations/orientations, sequence for transferring the objects, and/orcorresponding motion plans) for placing and/or stacking the objects.Each of the units can be configured to execute a sequence of actions(e.g., operating one or more components therein) to execute a task.

In some embodiments, the task can include manipulation (e.g., movingand/or reorienting) of a target object 112 (e.g., one of the packages,boxes, cases, cages, pallets, etc. corresponding to the executing task)from a start location 114 to a task location 116. For example, theunloading unit 102 (e.g., a devanning robot) can be configured totransfer the target object 112 from a location in a carrier (e.g., atruck) to a location on a conveyor belt. Also, the transfer unit 104 canbe configured to transfer the target object 112 from one location (e.g.,the conveyor belt, a pallet, or a bin) to another location (e.g., apallet, a bin, etc.). For another example, the transfer unit 104 (e.g.,a palletizing robot) can be configured to transfer the target object 112from a source location (e.g., a pallet, a pickup area, and/or aconveyor) to a destination pallet. In completing the operation, thetransport unit 106 can transfer the target object 112 from an areaassociated with the transfer unit 104 to an area associated with theloading unit 108, and the loading unit 108 can transfer the targetobject 112 (by, e.g., moving the pallet carrying the target object 112)from the transfer unit 104 to a storage location (e.g., a location onthe shelves). Details regarding the task and the associated actions aredescribed below.

For illustrative purposes, the robotic system 100 is described in thecontext of a shipping center; however, it is understood that the roboticsystem 100 can be configured to execute tasks in other environments/forother purposes, such as for manufacturing, assembly, packaging,healthcare, and/or other types of automation. It is also understood thatthe robotic system 100 can include other units, such as manipulators,service robots, modular robots, etc., not shown in FIG. 1. For example,in some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can include a depalletizingunit for transferring the objects from cage carts or pallets ontoconveyors or other pallets, a container-switching unit for transferringthe objects from one container to another, a packaging unit for wrappingthe objects, a sorting unit for grouping objects according to one ormore characteristics thereof, a piece-picking unit for manipulating(e.g., for sorting, grouping, and/or transferring) the objectsdifferently according to one or more characteristics thereof, or acombination thereof.

Suitable System

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the robotic system 100 inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology. Insome embodiments, for example, the robotic system 100 (e.g., at one ormore of the units and/or robots described above) can includeelectronic/electrical devices, such as one or more processors 202, oneor more storage devices 204, one or more communication devices 206, oneor more input-output devices 208, one or more actuation devices 212, oneor more transport motors 214, one or more sensors 216, or a combinationthereof. The various devices can be coupled to each other via wireconnections and/or wireless connections. For example, the robotic system100 can include a bus, such as a system bus, a Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus or PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industrystandard architecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface(SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), an IIC (I2C) bus, or anInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394bus (also referred to as “Firewire”). Also, for example, the roboticsystem 100 can include bridges, adapters, processors, or othersignal-related devices for providing the wire connections between thedevices. The wireless connections can be based on, for example, cellularcommunication protocols (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G, etc.), wireless localarea network (LAN) protocols (e.g., wireless fidelity (WIFI)),peer-to-peer or device-to-device communication protocols (e.g.,Bluetooth, Near-Field communication (NFC), etc.), Internet of Things(IoT) protocols (e.g., NB-IoT, LTE-M, etc.), and/or other wirelesscommunication protocols.

The processors 202 can include data processors (e.g., central processingunits (CPUs), special-purpose computers, and/or onboard servers)configured to execute instructions (e.g. software instructions) storedon the storage devices 204 (e.g., computer memory). In some embodiments,the processors 202 can be included in a separate/stand-alone controllerthat is operably coupled to the other electronic/electrical devicesillustrated in FIG. 2 and/or the robotic units illustrated in FIG. 1.The processors 202 can implement the program instructions tocontrol/interface with other devices, thereby causing the robotic system100 to execute actions, tasks, and/or operations.

The storage devices 204 can include non-transitory computer-readablemediums having stored thereon program instructions (e.g., software).Some examples of the storage devices 204 can include volatile memory(e.g., cache and/or random-access memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatilememory (e.g., flash memory and/or magnetic disk drives). Other examplesof the storage devices 204 can include portable memory drives and/orcloud storage devices.

In some embodiments, the storage devices 204 can be used to furtherstore and provide access to processing results and/or predetermineddata/thresholds. For example, the storage devices 204 can store masterdata 252 that includes descriptions of objects (e.g., boxes, cases,and/or products) that may be manipulated by the robotic system 100. Inone or more embodiments, the master data 252 can include a dimension, ashape (e.g., templates for potential poses and/or computer-generatedmodels for recognizing the object in different poses), a color scheme,an image, identification information (e.g., bar codes, quick response(QR) codes, logos, etc., and/or expected locations thereof), an expectedweight, other physical/visual characteristics, or a combination thereoffor the objects expected to be manipulated by the robotic system 100. Insome embodiments, the master data 252 can include manipulation-relatedinformation regarding the objects, such as a center-of-mass (CoM)location on each of the objects, expected sensor measurements (e.g., forforce, torque, pressure, and/or contact measurements) corresponding toone or more actions/maneuvers, or a combination thereof. Also, forexample, the storage devices 204 can store object tracking data 254. Insome embodiments, the object tracking data 254 can include a log ofscanned or manipulated objects. In some embodiments, the object trackingdata 254 can include imaging data (e.g., a picture, point cloud, livevideo feed, etc.) of the objects at one or more locations (e.g.,designated pickup or drop locations and/or conveyor belts). In someembodiments, the object tracking data 254 can include locations and/ororientations of the objects at the one or more locations.

The communication devices 206 can include circuits configured tocommunicate with external or remote devices via a network. For example,the communication devices 206 can include receivers, transmitters,modulators/demodulators (modems), signal detectors, signalencoders/decoders, connector ports, network cards, etc. Thecommunication devices 206 can be configured to send, receive, and/orprocess electrical signals according to one or more communicationprotocols (e.g., the Internet Protocol (IP), wireless communicationprotocols, etc.). In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can usethe communication devices 206 to exchange information between units ofthe robotic system 100 and/or exchange information (e.g., for reporting,data gathering, analyzing, and/or troubleshooting purposes) with systemsor devices external to the robotic system 100.

The input-output devices 208 can include user interface devicesconfigured to communicate information to and/or receive information fromhuman operators. For example, the input-output devices 208 can include adisplay 210 and/or other output devices (e.g., a speaker, a hapticscircuit, or a tactile feedback device, etc.) for communicatinginformation to the human operator. Also, the input-output devices 208can include control or receiving devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, a microphone, a user interface (UI) sensor (e.g., a camerafor receiving motion commands), a wearable input device, etc. In someembodiments, the robotic system 100 can use the input-output devices 208to interact with the human operators in executing an action, a task, anoperation, or a combination thereof.

The robotic system 100 can include physical or structural members (e.g.,robotic manipulator arms) that are connected at joints for motion (e.g.,rotational and/or translational displacements). The structural membersand the joints can form a kinetic chain configured to manipulate anend-effector (e.g., the gripper) configured to execute one or more tasks(e.g., gripping, spinning, welding, etc.) depending on the use/operationof the robotic system 100. The robotic system 100 can include theactuation devices 212 (e.g., motors, actuators, wires, artificialmuscles, electroactive polymers, etc.) configured to drive or manipulate(e.g., displace and/or reorient) the structural members about or at acorresponding joint. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 caninclude the transport motors 214 configured to transport thecorresponding units/chassis from place to place.

The robotic system 100 can include the sensors 216 configured to obtaininformation used to implement the tasks, such as for manipulating thestructural members and/or for transporting the robotic units. Thesensors 216 can include devices configured to detect or measure one ormore physical properties of the robotic system 100 (e.g., a state, acondition, and/or a location of one or more structural members/jointsthereof) and/or of a surrounding environment. Some examples of thesensors 216 can include accelerometers, gyroscopes, force sensors,strain gauges, tactile sensors, torque sensors, position encoders, etc.

In some embodiments, for example, the sensors 216 can include one ormore imaging devices 222 (e.g., visual and/or infrared cameras, 2Dand/or 3D imaging cameras, distance measuring devices such as lidars orradars, etc.) configured to detect the surrounding environment. Theimaging devices 222 can generate representations of the detectedenvironment, such as digital images and/or point clouds, that may beprocessed via machine/computer vision (e.g., for automatic inspection,robot guidance, or other robotic applications). As described in furtherdetail below, the robotic system 100 (via, e.g., the processors 202) canprocess the digital image and/or the point cloud to identify the targetobject 112 of FIG. 1, the start location 114 of FIG. 1, the tasklocation 116 of FIG. 1, a pose of the target object 112, a confidencemeasure regarding the start location 114 and/or the pose, or acombination thereof.

For manipulating the target object 112, the robotic system 100 (via,e.g., the various circuits/devices described above) can capture andanalyze an image of a designated area (e.g., a pickup location, such asinside the truck or on the conveyor belt) to identify the target object112 and the start location 114 thereof. Similarly, the robotic system100 can capture and analyze an image of another designated area (e.g., adrop location for placing objects on the conveyor, a location forplacing objects inside the container, or a location on the pallet forstacking purposes) to identify the task location 116. For example, theimaging devices 222 can include one or more cameras configured togenerate images of the pickup area and/or one or more cameras configuredto generate images of the task area (e.g., drop area). Based on thecaptured images, as described below, the robotic system 100 candetermine the start location 114, the task location 116, the associatedposes, a packing/placement plan, a transfer/packing sequence, and/orother processing results. Details regarding the packing algorithm aredescribed below.

In some embodiments, for example, the sensors 216 can include positionsensors 224 (e.g., position encoders, potentiometers, etc.) configuredto detect positions of structural members (e.g., the robotic arms and/orthe end-effectors) and/or corresponding joints of the robotic system100. The robotic system 100 can use the position sensors 224 to tracklocations and/or orientations of the structural members and/or thejoints during execution of the task.

Discretization Model Processing

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are illustrations of discretized data used to planand pack objects in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent technology. FIG. 3A illustrates discretized objects and FIG. 3Billustrates discretized packing platform for the object packing andplanning thereof. For example, the robotic system 100 of FIG. 1 (via,e.g., the processors 202 of FIG. 2) can map continuous surfaces/edges ofreal-world objects (e.g., packages, pallets, and/or other objectsassociated with the task) into discrete counterparts (e.g., unit lengthsand/or unit areas). Also, the robotic system 100 can include discretizedmodels/representations of the expected objects stored in the master data252 of FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the robotic system 100can use discretized object models 302 to plan/derive stacking placementsof objects. The discretized object models 302 (shown using dotted lines)can represent exterior physical dimensions, shapes, edges, surfaces, ora combination thereof (shown using solid lines) for known and/orexpected objects (e.g., packages, boxes, cases, etc.) according to adiscretization unit (e.g., a unit length). In some embodiments, asillustrated in FIG. 3B, the robotic system 100 can use one or morediscretized platform models 304 to plan/derive stacking placements ofobjects. The discretized platform models 304 can represent a placementsurface (e.g., a top surface of the pallet) according to thediscretization unit. In some embodiments, the discretization unit caninclude a length that is preset by a system operator, a system designer,a predetermined input/setting, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the discretized platform models 304 can include topviews of one or more standard size pallets (e.g., 1.1 m by 1.1 mpallets). Accordingly, the discretized platform models 304 cancorrespond to pixelated 2D representations of the pallet top surfacesalong a horizontal plane (e.g., the x-y plane) according to a gridsystem utilized by the robotic system 100. In some embodiments, thediscretized object models 302 can include top views (e.g., x-y plane, asillustrated on the left side in FIG. 3A) and/or horizontal/profile views(e.g., x-z plane, as illustrated on the right side) for the objectsexpected/known by the robotic system 100. Accordingly, the discretizedobject models 302 can correspond to pixelated 2D/3D representations ofthe objects.

As an illustrative example, the robotic system 100 can use unit pixels310 (e.g., polygons, such as squares, having one or more dimensionsaccording to the discretization unit) to describe areas/surfaces oftargeted objects (via, e.g., the discretized object models 302) andloading platforms (via, e.g., the discretized platform models 304).Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can pixelate the objects and theloading platforms along the x-y axes. In some embodiments, the size ofthe unit pixels 310 (e.g., the discretization unit) can change accordingto dimensions of the objects and/or dimensions of the loading platforms.The size of the unit pixels 310 can also be adjusted (via, e.g., apreset rule/equation and/or operator selection) to balance requiredresources (e.g., computation times, required memory, etc.) with packingaccuracy. For example, when the size decreases, the computation timesand the packing accuracy can increase. Accordingly, discretization ofthe packing tasks (e.g., the target packages and the packing platforms)using adjustable unit pixels 310 provides increased flexibility forpalletizing the packages. The robotic system 100 can control a balancebetween the computation resources/time with the packing accuracyaccording to unique scenarios, patterns, and/or environments.

For the examples illustrated in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the robotic system100 can expect/process objects corresponding to a first package type321, a second package type 322, a third package type 323, a fourthpackage type 324, and/or a fifth package type 325. The robotic system100 can plan and place/stack the packages on a placement pallet 340 thatcorresponds to the task location 116 of FIG. 1. For the placementplanning, the robotic system 100 can generate and/or utilize thediscretized object models 302 including a first object model 331, asecond object model 332, a third object model 333, a fourth object model334, and/or a fifth object model 335 that respectively represent thecorresponding packages using the unit pixels 310. Similarly, the roboticsystem 100 can generate and/or utilize the discretized platform model304 for the placement pallet 340 using the unit pixels 310.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can round up (e.g., for thediscretized object models 302, such as for the third object model 333and/or the fourth object model 334) the actual dimension of the objectsuch that the unit pixels 310 extend beyond the actual peripheral edgesof the object. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can rounddown (e.g., for the discretized platform models 304) the actualdimensions of the platform surface such that the unit pixels 310 areoverlapped and/or contained within the actual peripheral edges of theobject.

Based on the discretized data/representations, the robotic system 100can generate a placement plan 350 for placing/packing the packages ontothe placement pallet 340. The placement plan 350 can include plannedlocations on the placement pallet 340 for the targeted packages. Therobotic system 100 can generate the placement plan 350 for placing oneor more of available packages designated for loading/palletization. Forexample, the robotic system 100 can generate the placement plan 350 forstacking a set of packages from the available packages (e.g., receivedpackages and/or outgoing ordered packages).

The robotic system 100 can generate the placement plan 350 according toa set of placement rules, placement conditions, parameters,requirements, etc. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 cangenerate the placement plan 350 based on packages grouped according tothe set, such as according to the package types (e.g., package types321-325), package heights, customer specified priority, fragility (e.g.,maximum supported weight, such as for packages stacked thereon), weightrange, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the robotic system100 can generate the placement plan 350 according to stackingconditions, such as, e.g., stacking the taller packages further awayfrom the depalletizing unit. Other examples of the placement rules,conditions, parameters, requirements, etc. can include packagedimensions, collision free requirement, stack stability, the groupingconditions (e.g., package types, package heights, priority, etc.),package separation requirements or the absence thereof, maximization oftotal loaded packages, or a combination thereof. Details regarding theplacement planning is described below.

For the example illustrated in FIG. 3B, the robotic system 100 cangenerate the 2D placement plan (e.g., the placement plan 350) for a setof packages that correspond to the packages types 321-325. The roboticsystem 100 can generate the placement plan 350 that places threepackages of the first package type 321, four packages of the secondpackage type 322, four packages of the third package type 323, fivepackages of the fourth package type 324, and four packages of the fifthpackage type 325. The placement plan 350 can group the packages tomaximize adjacent groupings of packages with similar height (e.g., equalor within a threshold limit from each other). Accordingly, the roboticsystem 100 can group the four of the second package type 322 in a 2×2arrangement located at the lower left-hand corner of the placementpallet 340. A second grouping of packages (e.g., the packages of thefirst package type 321, the fourth package type 324, and the fifthpackage type 325) can be placed around the initially placed group.Accordingly, the continuous surface area for the first grouping (e.g.,at a height of four unit pixels 310) and the surface area for the secondgrouping (e.g., at a height of two unit pixels 310) can be maximized.Also, the robotic system 100 can separate the packages of the thirdpackage type 323 based on one or more requirements, such as fragility(e.g., limiting the number of supported items) and/or separationrequirements. Similarly, the robotic system 100 can generate the 2Dplacement plan according to boundary requirements (e.g., one or more ofthe unit pixels 310 from the edge of the placement pallet 340).

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can generate the placementplan 350 based on 2D planning (e.g., x-y footprint, such as a top-view)and/or 3D planning (e.g., x-z or y-z footprint, such as a profile-view).For example, the robotic system 100 can generate the placement plan 350based on iteratively deriving potential 2D placements along the x-yplane, testing the potential placements according to the placementrules, conditions, etc., calculating a placement score, or a combinationthereof. The robotic system 100 can generate the placement plan 350based on selecting the 2D placement plan that optimizes (e.g., highestor lowest) the placement score. In some embodiments, the robotic system100 can use the 2D placement plan to further generate a 3D plan (e.g.,stacking plan; not shown in FIG. 3B). For example, the robotic system100 can generate the 3D placement plan based on using the 2D placementplan as a layer within a stack. In other words, the robotic system 100can place the generated 2D placement over/on top of one or more layers(e.g., other 2D placement plans) and/or under/below one or more otherlayers.

As an illustrative example, the robotic system 100 can estimate andconsider heights of the placed objects in deriving the 2D plans. Forexample, the robotic system 100 can pixelate the object heights (e.g.,stored in the master data) as shown in FIG. 3D. Also, the robotic system100 can map the predetermined height data of the placed object to eachof the unit pixels occupied by the object. With the heights mapped toeach of the pixels, the robotic system 100 derive placement surfaces ofthe resulting 2D placement plan 350. The placement surfaces can eachcorrespond to a derived surface/plane that can have, and support objectsplaced thereon, such as due same or similar heights of objects formingthe derived surface.

The robotic system 100 can derive placement surfaces based onidentifying groupings of unit pixels that have height values that arewithin a threshold range of each other. In some embodiments, the roboticsystem 100 can derive the placement surfaces based on identifying amaximum height for the placement plan 350. Based on the maximum height,the robotic system 100 can identify the unit pixels in the placementplan 350 having heights matching or within a threshold range from themaximum height. The robotic system 100 can derive an outline based onconnecting corners and/or extending edges of outermost/perimeter unitpixels with qualifying heights to derive the placement surface. Therobotic system 100 can recursively repeat the process for regionsoutside of the placement areas using lower heights. For the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3B, the robotic system 100 can derive a firstplacement surface 352, a second placement surface 354, and a thirdplacement surface 356. The first placement surface 352 can correspond tothe rectangular area shown in the lower left corner of the placementplan 350 with the maximum height of four unit pixels. The secondplacement surface 354 can correspond to the surrounding area (shownusing dashed lines) with height of two unit pixels. The third placementsurface 356 can correspond to the separate area on the right side of theplacement plan 350 with the height of one unit pixel. Details for the 2Dand 3D placement planning are described below.

FIG. 3C is an illustration of a placement planning process in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology. The roboticsystem 100 (via, e.g., the one or more processors 202 of FIG. 2) canderive the placement plan 350 of FIG. 3B for a set of available packages362. The available packages 362 can correspond to the objects that needto be packed for an egress shipment and/or storage. For example, theavailable packages 362 can correspond to incoming objects received viaan ingress shipment and/or stored objects that have been ordered for anegress shipment. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can use ashipping manifest, an order list, etc. to identify the availablepackages 362 in real-time, such as directly in response to (i.e., withina threshold duration from) receiving the manifest, the list, etc.Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can use the identified availablepackages 362 to derive the placement plan 350 in real-time. As such, therobotic system 100 can use real-time conditions, availability, and/ordemands to derive the placement plan 350 instead of off-line packingsimulators that utilize a hypothetical number/set/combination ofpackages to derive plans that are applied regardless of real-timeconditions. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can use devices(e.g., one or more of the processors 202) located at the locationreceiving, storing, and/or sending the objects, such as a shipping huband/or a warehouse.

In some embodiments, as discussed in detail below, the robotic system100 can group and/or sequence the available packages 362. The roboticsystem 100 can use the ordered set of the available packages 362 toderive the placement plan 350. The robotic system 100 can determine andevaluate unique placement locations/combinations for the availablepackages 362 to derive the placement plan 350. In other words, therobotic system 100 can determine a set of potential placementcombinations 364 and evaluate (e.g., score) them according a set ofpredetermined requirements, conditions, weights, costs, subsequentimplications, or a combination thereof. Based on the evaluation, therobotic system 100 can select a placement combination to derive theplacement plan 350.

In at least one embodiment, the robotic system 100 can derive theplacement plan 350 using an algorithm that iteratively evaluatesplacements of the sequenced packages. As illustrated in FIG. 3C, forexample, the robotic system 100 can begin the derivation by determiningan initial placement for the first package in the available packages362. Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can overlap the correspondingdiscretized object model 302 of FIG. 3A over the discretized platformmodel 304 of FIG. 3B at an initial location (e.g., a corner, a middlelocation, and/or another preset location). The robotic system 100 cantrack remaining packages 372 based on removing the placed package (e.g.,the first package) from the available packages 362.

Based on the initial placement, the robotic system 100 can determine aset of possible placements for the second package in the availablepackages 362. The robotic system 100 can determine the set of possibleplacements according to a predetermined rule, pattern, or a combinationthereof. For example, the robotic system 100 can determine the placementlocations according to a pattern of locations relative to the previouslyplaced package(s) (e.g., relative to the previously placed package(s)).Also, the robotic system 100 can determine the placement locations basedon a minimum/maximum separation distance or a lack thereof requiredbetween one or more of the packages. Further, the robotic system 100 candetermine the placement locations based on rotating the package (i.e.,the corresponding discretized object model 302) according to apredetermined amount, such as 90 degrees. In some embodiments, therobotic system 100 can limit the placement possibilities according to apredetermined threshold and/or pattern. Further, the robotic system 100can update the remaining packages 372 accordingly.

The robotic system 100 can repeat the above-described process anditeratively process the available packages 362 until a stoppingcondition is reached. Some examples of the stopping condition canrepresent that all packages have been placed (i.e., the remainingpackages 372 is empty), the placements cannot be improved (e.g., sameevaluation score as the previous tier/iteration), no more packages canbe placed over the discretized platform model 304, or a combinationthereof.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can track the possibleplacements and the corresponding potential placement combinations 364using a search tree 374. A root of the search tree 374 can correspond tothe initial placement and each level or tier can include potentialplacements of the subsequent package in the available packages 362. Thedifferent tiers can be connected to form a branch that corresponds to aunique combination of placements for the set of packages.

For potential placements of each package, the robotic system 100 canidentify and eliminate (e.g., represented by ‘X’ in FIG. 3C) redundantfootprints. For example, at each tier of the search tree 374, therobotic system 100 can compare (e.g., overlay) the resulting footprintsof the potential placement locations/combinations. Based on thecomparison, the robotic system 100 can eliminate duplicates of theresulting footprints. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 canfurther compare transposed, rotated, and/or mirrored versions of theresulting footprints to eliminate related duplicates. For example, therobotic system 100 can rotate one footprint by 90 degrees and/ortranspose the footprint across one or more mirroring lines (e.g. adiagonal line extending across opposing corners, a bisecting line(s)extending along x and/or y directions, or a combination thereof) andcompare it to other footprints.

Also, for potential placements of each package, the robotic system 100can identify and eliminate placements that violate one or morerequirements/constraints. One example of the requirements/constraintscan be based on collision probabilities. The robotic system 100 cancalculate an approach path for each placement location and acorresponding collision probability according to the pre-existingfootprint, one or more dimensions of the packages, a location of thetransfer robot, a previous event or history, or a combination thereof.The robotic system 100 can eliminate the placements where the collisionprobability exceeds a predetermined threshold. Another example of therequirements/constraints can be a supported weight for stacking (i.e.,placing directly on/over one or more support packages) the package. Forone or more of the packages under the placement location, the roboticsystem 100 can calculate a support weight (i.e., a combined weight ofpackages or portions thereof directly over) based on the weight of theplaced package. The robotic system 100 can eliminate the placementswhere the support weight violates (e.g., exceeds or is within athreshold range from) a fragility requirement (e.g., a maximumsupportable weight) for one or more of the packages under the placementlocation.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can track and/or evaluatethe placement combinations 364 using a priority queue 376 (e.g., a heapstructure etc.). The priority queue 376 can order the placementcombinations 364 according to a sequence of preferences. The roboticsystem 100 can evaluate or score each of the placement combinations 364according to one or more predetermined criteria. The criteria caninclude one or more costs associated with already placed items and/orone or more heuristic scores associated with how the current placementaffects future placements or possibilities.

One example of the criteria can include maximization of footprintdensity. The robotic system 100 can calculate the footprint density foran outer perimeter 382 for a grouping of packages. In some embodiments,the outer perimeter 382 can be determined based on exposed/outerperimeter edges of the grouping of packages. The robotic system 100 canfurther enclose surrounding/related areas by extending two or more edgesand finding an intersect and/or by drawing a line that connects one ormore corners of the footprint. The robotic system 100 can calculate thefootprint density as a ratio between an actual occupied area 384 (e.g.,a number of unit pixels 310 corresponding to the shaded area) and anempty area 386 (e.g., a number of unit pixels 310 corresponding to theenclosed/related areas). The robotic system 100 can be configured toprefer (e.g., by assigning a higher/lower score) to placement plans thatminimize the empty area 386.

Stacking Rules

FIGS. 4A-4C are illustrations of stacking rules in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present technology. The robotic system 100can use the stacking rules to place packages on top of each other, suchas for stacking/placing one or more layers of packages above one or moreother layer(s) of packages. The robotic system 100 can use the stackingrules for improving stability of the stacked packages and prevent anypackages from slipping and/or tipping during movement of the pallet. Forillustrative purposes, FIGS. 4A-4C show a top package 452 directly aboveand supported by (e.g., directly contacting) one or more supportpackages 454.

FIG. 4A illustrates a horizontal offset rule 402 used to generate 3Dplacements (e.g., the 3D placement plan 350). The horizontal offset rule402 can include a regulation, a requirement, or a combination thereoffor controlling horizontal offsets of vertical edges/surfaces betweenstacked items. For example, the horizontal offset rule 402 can be basedon an overlap requirement 422, an overhang requirement 424, or acombination thereof. The overlap requirement 422 can include a minimumamount (e.g., a percentage or a ratio of length, width, and/or surfacearea) of overlap between the stacked packages. In some embodiments, theoverlap requirement 422 can require that a minimum amount of horizontaldimension/surface area of the top package 452 is overlapped with that ofthe support package 454. The overhang requirement 424 can include amaximum amount (e.g., a percentage or a ratio of length, width, and/orsurface area) of overhang, such as a portion of the top package 452 thathorizontally extends past a perimeter edge/surface of the supportpackage 454.

In some embodiments, the horizontal offset rule 402 can be based onweight, dimension, and/or center-of-mass (CoM) locations 412. Forexample, the overlap requirement 422 and/or the overhang requirement 424can be based on the CoM locations 412, such as for evaluating a distancebetween the CoM locations 412 of the top package 452 and the supportpackage 454 relative to a distance between the top CoM location and ahorizontal edge/surface of the support package 454 and/or an overhangdistance (e.g. a measure along a horizontal direction of a portion ofthe top package 452 extending past peripheral edge(s) of the supportpackage 454). In some embodiments, the horizontal offset rule 402 can bebased on a CoM offset requirement 426 that requires the CoM locations412 of the top packages 452 and the support packages 454 to be within athreshold. The threshold can include a predetermined distance, athreshold limit for a ratio between the offset distance between the CoMlocations 412 relative to a horizontal dimension, an overhang distance,an overlapped distance, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 4B illustrates a support separation rule 404 used to generate 3Dplacements (e.g., a stacking plan). The support separation rule 404 caninclude a regulation, a requirement, or a combination thereof forcontrolling a horizontal separation distance 414 between the supportpackages 454. The horizontal separation distance 414 can correspond to ahorizontal distance between peripheral surfaces/edges of adjacentsupport packages 454. In some embodiments, the support separation rule404 can be further based on locations and/or amounts of overlappedsurfaces between the top package 452 and the support packages 454. Forexample, the support separation rule 404 can require that the horizontalseparation distance 414 to be larger than any overhang distances by apredetermined percentage. Also, the support separation rule 404 canrequire that the horizontal separation distance 414 extends under theCoM location 412 of the top package 452.

FIG. 4C illustrates a vertical offset rule 406 used to generate 3Dplacements (e.g., the 3D placement plan 350). The vertical offset rule406 can include a regulation, a requirement, or a combination thereoffor controlling a support height difference 416 between verticallocations of the supporting packages 454. The support height difference416 can correspond to a vertical distance between top portions ofcorresponding support packages 454, such as for portions that wouldlikely contact the top package 452 placed over the corresponding supportpackages 454. In some embodiments, the vertical offset rule 406 canrequire the support height difference 416 to be under a predeterminedthreshold requirement for stacking one or more packages on top of thesupporting packages 454. In some embodiments, the support separationrule 404 can vary based on the layer height. For example, when the toppackage 452 (e.g., the supported package) is part of the top-most layer,the limit for the support height difference 416 can be greater than forthe lower layers.

The robotic system 100 can generate stacking plans (e.g., a 3Dcombination of multiple 2D placement plans) according to the stackingrules. For example, the robotic system 100 can generate the 2D placementplans (e.g., the placement plan 350 of FIG. 3B) according to heightrequirements (e.g., for keeping the heights of the package groupingswithin a threshold distance). Subsequently, the robotic system 100 cangenerate the stacking plans based on vertically overlapping (e.g.,stacking) the 2D placement plans.

Stacking Sequence

FIG. 5A is an illustration of an example of a stacking plan 502 (e.g., aplan representing a 3D mapping of the available packages and/or theplacement plans 350 correspond to layers within the 3D mapping) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology. Forillustrative purposes, the stacking plan 502 is illustrated using afirst layer 512, a second layer 514, and a third layer 516 for a firststack 520 of the packages (e.g., e.g., at least the packages 1-1 to 1-4,2-1 to 2-2, and 3-1 to 3-3). Each of the first layer 512, the secondlayer 514, and the third layer 516 can be an instance of the placementplan 350. The first layer 512 can be on the bottom such that thepackages (e.g., at least the packages 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4) thereindirectly contact the placement pallet 340. The packages (e.g., at leastthe packages 2-1 and 2-2) in the second layer 514 can be directly on(i.e. having direct contact with) and above the first layer 512.Similarly, the packages (e.g., at least the packages 3-1 and 3-2) of thethird layer 516 can be directly on and contact the second layer 514.

As discussed in detail below, the robotic system 100 can plan each ofthe layers separately while considering vertical parameters (e.g.,supported weight, layer height, etc.). In generating the stacking plan502, the robotic system 100 can vertically combine and/or sequence theseparate layers according to the vertical parameters and/or the stackingrules. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can plan the layersaccording to vertical placement of the packages. For example, therobotic system 100 can generate the first layer 512 as including allpackages that directly contact the placement pallet 340, such asincluding the bottom two packages in a second stack 522. Also, therobotic system 100 can plan the package labeled ‘3-3’ as part of thesecond layer 514. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 canre-plan and/or adjust the layers (e.g., the placement plan 350) ingenerating the stacking plan 502. For example, the robotic system 100can adjust the layers to facilitate the stacking/placement sequence. Asillustrated in FIG. 5A, the robotic system 100 can adjust the layerssuch that the second stack 522 is considered a separate stack (i.e.,separate from the first, second, and third layers 512-516). Accordingly,the robotic system 100 can be free to plan and/or stack the packages ofthe second stack 522 separately/differently from the layers of the firststack 520.

Also, in some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can move largerpackages closest to the transfer unit 104 of FIG. 1 (e.g., thepalletizing robot) to a higher layer to facilitate stacking sequence.Assuming that the transfer unit 104 is to the right of the placementpallet 340 illustrated in FIG. 5A, the ‘3-3’ package can become anobstacle (i.e., due to its height) if it is placed before packageslabeled ‘3-1’ and ‘3-2’. Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can adjustthe layers such that the ‘3-3’ package is part of a higher layer (e.g.,the third layer 516 instead of the second layer 512). As a result, whenthe robotic system 100 places the packages according to the layers, the‘3-3’ package can be placed after the ‘3-1’ and ‘3-2’ packages.

In other alternative embodiments, the robotic system 100 can separatelycalculate the stacking or placement sequences based on analyzing thestacking plan 502 without being bound to the layers. For discussionpurposes, FIG. 5B is an illustration of a stacking sequence 530 (e.g.,an identification of a placing order for the available packages) that isnot bound by stacking of packages according to the layers in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology. The stackingsequence 530 can be for placing a stacked package 532 above a supportingpackage and horizontally between two end packages. The stacking sequence530 can be such that the package (labeled ‘1’) furthest from thetransfer unit 104 (not illustrated in FIG. 5B, assumed to be located tothe right of the placement pallet 340) can be placed first and thesecond package (labeled ‘2’) is placed on the placement pallet 340afterwards. The robotic system 100 can calculate the stacking sequence530 such that the stacked package 532 (labeled ‘3’) is placed before(e.g., third) one of the end packages 534 (labeled ‘4’). As describedabove, the robotic system 100 can calculate the stacking sequence 530based on adjusting the one of the end packages 534 to belong to a secondlayer with the stacked package 532 or based on independently calculatingthe stacking order from the stacking plan 502.

Operational Flow

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for a method 600 of operating the roboticsystem 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent technology. The method 600 can be for generating 2D/3D packingplans for placing packages (e.g., cases and/or boxes) on to a platform(e.g., a pallet) and/or for placing the packages accordingly. The method600 can be implemented based on executing the instructions stored on oneor more of the storage devices 204 of FIG. 2 with one or more of theprocessors 202 of FIG. 2.

At block 602, the robotic system 100 can identify a package set (e.g.,the available packages 362 of FIG. 3C) and a destination (e.g., the tasklocation 116 of FIG. 1, such as a pallet and/or a container forreceiving the packages). For example, the robotic system 100 canidentify the package set to represent the available packages 362including packages that are available for packing, located at a source,designated for placement, and/or listed in an order/request/manifest.Also, the robotic system 100 identify a size or a dimension of an area(e.g., a top loading surface of the pallet, such as the placement pallet340 of FIG. 3) of the task location 116 where the packages can beplaced. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can identify a size,a dimension, a type, or a combination thereof for a pallet.

At block 604, the robotic system 100 can generate and/or accessdiscretized models (e.g., the discretized object models 302 of FIG. 3Aand/or the discretized platform models 304 of FIG. 3B) corresponding tothe package set that represent the available packages 362 and/or thetask location 116. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 cangenerate (e.g., in real-time, such as after receiving the order and/orprior to beginning the packing operation, or offline) the discretizedmodels based on dividing physical dimensions of the objects and/or theplatform area (e.g., the pallet top surface according to the unit pixel310 of FIG. 3B). The unit pixel 310 can be predetermined (by, e.g., amanufacturer, an ordering customer, and/or an operator), such as at 1millimeters (mm) or 1/16 inches (in) or greater (e.g., at 5 mm or 20mm). In some embodiments, the unit pixel 310 can be based (e.g., apercentage or a fraction) on a dimension or a size of one or more of thepackages and/or the platform.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can access the discretizedmodels stored in the storage devices 204 and/or another device (e.g., astorage device, a database, and/or a server of a package supplieraccessed via the communication devices 206 of FIG. 2). The roboticsystem 100 can access the predetermined discretized models thatrepresents the available packages 362 and/or the task location 116. Forexample, the robotic system 100 can access the discretized object models302 corresponding to the available packages 362 by searching the masterdata 252 of FIG. 2 (e.g., a predetermined table or a lookup table) forthe available packages and their corresponding models. Similarly, therobotic system 100 can access the discretized platform model 304representing the platform, such as the identified pallet, where theavailable packages are to be placed.

At block 606, the robotic system 100 can determine package groupings(e.g., subgroupings of the available packages). The robotic system 100can determine the package groupings based on the available packages 362for placing them on the identified platform (e.g., the placement pallet340). The robotic system 100 can determine the package groupingsaccording to similarities and/or patterns in one or more characteristicsof the available packages 362. In some embodiments, as illustrated atblock 621, the robotic system 100 can determine the package grouping bygrouping the available packages 362 according to groupingconditions/requirements. Some examples of the groupingconditions/requirements can include a package priority (e.g., asspecified by one or more customers), a fragility rating (e.g., a maximumweight supportable by the package), a weight, a package dimension (e.g.,a package height), a package type, or a combination thereof. In groupingthe available packages 362, the robotic system 100 can search the masterdata 252 for the various characteristics of the available packages 362that match the grouping conditions/requirements.

At block 608, the robotic system 100 can calculate a processing order(e.g., a sequence for considering/deriving placement locations) for theavailable packages 362 and/or the groupings thereof (i.e., the packagegroupings). In some embodiments, as illustrated at block 622, therobotic system 100 can calculate the processing order according to oneor more sequencing conditions/requirements. For example, the roboticsystem 100 can prioritize placement planning of the package groupingsaccording to a number of packages within each of the groupings, such asfor processing the package groupings with greater number of packagesearlier in the placement planning. In some embodiments, the sequencingconditions can overlap with the grouping conditions, such as for theweight ranges, the fragility ratings, etc. For example, the roboticsystem 100 can prioritize the processing of the heavier and/or the lessfragile packages for earlier processing and/or for placement in lowerlayers.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can prioritize the placementplanning according to a combined horizontal area. The robotic system 100can calculate (via, e.g., multiplying corresponding widths and lengths)or access surface areas of top surfaces of the packages in the groupingsusing information specified in the master data 252. In calculating thecombined horizontal area, the robotic system 100 can add the surfaceareas of packages having the same type and/or heights within a thresholdrange. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can prioritize theplacement planning of groupings that have the larger combined horizontalarea for earlier processing and/or for placement in lower layers.

For one or more embodiments, the robotic system 100 can load a bufferwith identifiers and/or quantities of the available packages 362. Therobotic system 100 can sequence the identifiers in the buffer accordingto the groupings. Further, the robotic system 100 can sequence theidentifiers in the buffer according to the processing order.Accordingly, the sequenced values in the buffer can correspond to theavailable packages 362 and/or the remaining packages 372 illustrated inFIG. 3C.

As illustrated at block 624, for example, the robotic system 100 cancalculate the processing order for an initial set (e.g., the packageset) of the available packages 362 before implementing the correspondingstacking plan 502 of FIG. 5, such as before any of the packages in thepackage set is placed on the platform. In some embodiments, asillustrated at block 626, the robotic system 100 can calculate theprocessing order for a remaining set of the available packages 362 afterinitiating or while implementing the corresponding stacking plan 502.For example, as illustrated by a feedback loop from block 616, therobotic system 100 can calculate the processing order for the remainingset (e.g., a portion of the available packages 362 that have not beentransferred to the platform and/or remain at a source location)according to one or more triggering conditions. Example triggeringconditions can include stacking errors (e.g., lost or fallen packages),collision events, predetermined retriggering timings, or a combinationthereof.

At block 610, the robotic system 100 can generate 2D plans (e.g., theplacement plans 350 of FIG. 3B) for placing the available packages 362along a horizontal plane. For example, the robotic system 100 cangenerate the placement plans 350 to represent the 2D mappings of theavailable packages 362 along the horizontal plane. The robotic system100 can generate two or more placement plans based on the discretizedmodels. For example, the robotic system 100 can generate the placementplans 350 based on comparing the discretized object models 302 to thediscretized platform model 304. The robotic system 100 can determinedifferent placements/arrangements of the discretized object models 302,overlap/compare them to the discretized platform model 304, andvalidate/retain the arrangements that are within the boundaries of thediscretized platform model 304 when overlapped. The robotic system 100can designate the packages that cannot be placed within the boundariesof the discretized platform model 304 for another layer (e.g., anotherinstance of the placement plans 350). Accordingly, the robotic system100 can iteratively derive placement locations for the placement plans350 that represent 2D layers of the stacking plan 502 until each of thepackages in the package set have been assigned a location in theplacement plans 350.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can generate the placementplans 350 based on the package groupings. For example, the roboticsystem 100 can determine the arrangements for the packages within onepackage grouping before considering placements of packages in anothergrouping. When packages within a package grouping over flows a layer(i.e., cannot fit in one layer or one instance of the discretizedplatform model 304) and/or after placing all packages of one grouping,the robotic system 100 can assign locations for the packages in the nextgrouping to any remaining/unoccupied areas in the discretized platformmodel 304. The robotic system 100 can iteratively repeat the assignmentsuntil none of the unassigned packages can fit over remaining spaces ofthe discretized platform model 304.

Similarly, the robotic system 100 can generate the placement plans 350based on the processing order (e.g., based on the package groupingsaccording to the processing order). For example, the robotic system 100can determine a test arrangement based on assigning packages and/orgroupings according to the processing order. The robotic system 100 canassign the earliest sequenced package/grouping an initial placement forthe test arrangement, and then test/assign the subsequentpackages/groupings according to the processing order. In someembodiments, the robotic system 100 can retain the processing order forthe packages/groupings across layers (e.g., across instances of theplacement plans 350). In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 canrecalculate and update (illustrated using dashed feedback line in FIG.6) the processing order after each layer is filled.

In some embodiments, as an illustrative example of the above describedprocesses, the robotic system 100 can generate the 2D plans byidentifying the different package types (e.g., the first, second, third,fourth, and/or the fifth package type 321-325 of FIG. 3A, respectively)within the package set. In other words, at block 632, the robotic system100 can identify unique packages (e.g., as represented by the packagetypes) within each of the package grouping and/or the package set.

At block 634, the robotic system 100 can derive (e.g., iteratively)placement locations for each of the available packages 362. At block636, the robotic system 100 can determine an initial placement locationfor the unique package first in sequence according to the processingorder. The robotic system 100 can determine the initial placementlocation according to a predetermined pattern as described above. Insome embodiments, the robotic system 100 can calculate initialplacements for each unique package. The resulting initial placements caneach be developed into a unique placement combination (e.g., an instanceof the search tree 374 of FIG. 3C), such as by tracking the placementplan 350 across iterations. At block 638, the robotic system 100 canderive and track candidate placement locations for the subsequentpackages according to the processing order and/or the remaining packages372 as described above. Accordingly, the robotic system 100 caniteratively derive the placement combinations 364 of FIG. 3C.

In deriving the placement combinations 364 (e.g., candidate placementlocations), the robotic system 100 can test/evaluate locations of thediscretized object model 302 of the corresponding package based oniteratively deriving and evaluating candidate stacking scenarios (e.g.,potential combinations of unique placement locations for the availablepackages). The candidate stacking scenarios can each be derived based onidentifying unique potential locations (e.g., according to apredetermined sequence/rule for placement locations) for the packagesaccording to the above discussed sequence. The candidate stackingscenarios and/or the unique placement locations can be evaluatedaccording to one or more placement criteria (e.g., requirements,constraints, placement costs, and/or heuristic scores). For example, theplacement criteria can require that the discretized object models 302entirely fit within horizontal boundaries of the discretized platformmodel 304 when placed at the selected location. Also, the placementcriteria can require that placement of the discretized object models 302be within or over a threshold distance relative to the initial placementlocation (e.g. such as along a horizontal direction) and/or the previousplacement location, such as for adjacent placements or separationrequirements. Other examples of the placement criteria can includepreferences for adjacently placing packages having smallestdifference(s) in one or more package dimensions (e.g., height), thefragility ratings, the package weight ranges, or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the placement criteria can include collisionprobabilities that can correspond to locations and/or characteristics(e.g., height) of previously assigned packaged in the layer relative toa reference location (e.g., location of the palletizing robot).Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can generate multiple uniqueplacement combinations (i.e., candidate placement plans for each layerand/or the candidate stacking scenarios that each layer includesmultiple layers) of package placement locations. In some embodiments,the robotic system 100 can track the placements of the combination basedon generating and updating the search tree 374 across the placementiterations.

At block 640, the robotic system 100 can calculate/update a placementscore for each combination/package placement. The robotic system 100 cancalculate the placement score according to one or more of the placementconditions/preferences (e.g., package dimensions, collisionprobabilities, fragility ratings, package weight ranges, separationrequirements, package quantity conditions). For example, the roboticsystem 100 can use preference factors (e.g., multiplier weights) and/orequations to describe a preference for: separation distances betweenpackages, differences in package dimensions/fragility ratings/packageweights for adjacent packages, the collision probabilities,continuous/adjacent surfaces at the same height, a statistical resultthereof (e.g., average, maximum, minimum, standard deviation, etc.), ora combination thereof. Each combination can be scored according to thepreference factors and/or the equations that may be predefined by asystem manufacturer, an order, and/or a system operator. In someembodiments, the robotic system 100 can calculate the placement score atthe end of the overall placement iterations.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can update the sequence ofthe placement combinations 364 in the priority queue 376 of FIG. 3Cafter each placement iteration. The robotic system 100 can update thesequence based on the placement score.

The robotic system 100 can stop the placement iterations, such as whenone candidate placement plan is finished, based on determining an emptysource status, a full layer status, or an unchanged score status. Theempty source status can represent that all of the available packageshave been placed. The full layer status can represent that no otherpackage can be placed in the remaining areas of the considereddiscretized platform model 304. The unchanged score status can representthat the placement score for the combination remains constant across oneor more consecutive placement iterations. In some embodiments, therobotic system 100 can repeat the placement iterations using differentinitial placement locations and/or different processing order (e.g., forreordering groups having same sequencing value/score associated with thesequencing conditions) to derive other instances of the candidatestacking scenarios. In other words, the robotic system 100 can generatemultiple 2D placement plans, where each 2D placement plan can representa layer within a 3D stack (e.g., an instance of the candidate stackingscenarios). In other embodiments, the robotic system 100 can iterativelyconsider the 3D effect as a 2D placement plan is derived and beginderiving the next layer as a next iteration when the 2D placement planbecomes full.

At block 612, the robotic system 100 can generate a stacking plan (e.g.,the stacking plan 502). In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 canbegin generating the stacking plan 502 when the placement location ofthe processed package overlaps one or more previously placed/processedpackages.

In generating the stacking plan 502 and/or assessing the 2D plans, therobotic system 100 can convert each of the placement combinations 364and/or the placement plans into 3D states as illustrated at block 652.For example, the robotic system 100 can assign the height values for thepackages to the placement combinations 364. In other words, the roboticsystem 100 can generate a contour map (an estimate of a depth map) basedon the adding the package heights to placement combinations 364.

With the 3D states, the robotic system 100 can evaluate the placementcombinations 364 according to one or more stacking rules (e.g., thehorizontal offset rule 402 of FIG. 4A, the support separation rule 404of FIG. 4B, and/or the vertical offset rule 406 of FIG. 4C). As anillustrative example, when the placed package is stacked on/over one ormore previously processed packages, the robotic system 100 can eliminateany of the placement combinations 364 that violate the overlaprequirement 422 of FIG. 2, the overhang requirement 424 of FIG. 4A, thevertical offset rule 406, the CoM offset requirement 426 of FIG. 4A, ora combination thereof described above. In one or more embodiments, therobotic system 100 can eliminate any of the placement combinations 364that violate fragility ratings of one or more packages under theprocessed package, such as by estimating the supported weights at theoverlapped packages and comparing them to the corresponding fragilityratings.

For the remaining placement combinations 364, the robotic system 100 cancalculate 3D placement scores or update the placement score, such asillustrated at block 654. The robotic system 100 can use predeterminedpreferences (e.g., weights and/or equations) associated with placementcosts and/or heuristic values for 3D placements. The predetermined 3Dpreferences can be similar to the 2D preferences, grouping preferences,sequencing conditions, or a combination thereof. For example, the 3Dpreferences can be configured to calculate collision probabilities basedon the 3D state and to calculate scores that favor the placementcombinations with lower collision probabilities. Also, the roboticsystem 100 can calculate the scores based on the remaining packages 372,sizes of support areas with common height, number of packed items in the3D state, difference between the heights of the processed packages, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 canupdate the sequence of the placement combinations 364 in the priorityqueue 376 according to the scores.

After the 3D states have been processed, the robotic system 100 canupdate the 2D plans by deriving a placement for the next package in theremaining packages 372, such as at block 610. The robotic system 100 canrepeat the above-described process until a stopping condition, such aswhen all of the available packages 362 have been processed (i.e., emptyvalue/set for the remaining packages 372) and/or when the placementcombinations 364 cannot be improved (also referred to as unimprovedcombinations). Some examples of unimproved combinations can include whenthe currently processed placement eliminates the last of the placementcombinations 364 in the priority queue 376 due to one or more of theviolations and/or when the placement score remains constant for thepreferred combinations across a threshold number of iterations.

When the stopping condition is detected, such as at block 656, therobotic system 100 can select one of the derived placement combinations364 according to the placement scores (e.g., the 2D and/or the 3Drelated scores). Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can designate theselected placement combination as the stacking plan 502 (e.g., a set ofthe placement plans 350).

In some embodiments, as an illustrative example, the robotic system 100can implement the functions of block 610 and 612 differently. Forexample, at block 610, the robotic system 100 can generate the 2D plan(e.g., an instance of the placement plan 350) for a bottom layer asdescribed above. In doing so, the robotic system 100 can be configuredto place heavier preference (e.g., greater parameter weights) formatching package heights, heavier package weights and/or greatersupportable weight for the packages in considering the placements and/orthe processing order. The robotic system 100 can derive the first 2Dplan for the base layer as described above for block 610.

Once the first 2D layer is complete/full as described above, therebyforming the base layer, the robotic system 100 can convert the placementplan into 3D states as described for block 612/652. Using the 3Dinformation, the robotic system 100 can identify one or more planarsections/areas (e.g., the placement surfaces 352-356 of FIG. 3B) of thebase layer as described above. Using the planar sections, the roboticsystem 100 can iteratively/recursively derive package placements for thenext layer above the base layer. The robotic system 100 can considereach of the planar sections as new instances of the discretized platformmodels 304 and test/evaluate different placements as described above forblock 610. In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can derive the 2Dplacements using the placement surfaces but calculate the score acrossthe entirety of the placement pallet 340. Accordingly, the roboticsystem 100 can be configured to follow preferences for larger placementareas for subsequent layers without being limited to the precedingplacement areas.

Once the iterative placement process stops for the second layer, therobotic system 100 can calculate planar sections (e.g., top surfaceshaving heights within a threshold range) for the derived layer togenerate the 2D placements of the remaining packages/groupings for thenext above layer. The iterative layering process can continue until thestopping condition has been met as described above.

In some embodiments, the robotic system 100 can separately generate 2Dplans (e.g., two or more of the placement plans 350) at block 612. Therobotic system 100 can generate the stacking plan 502 based onvertically combining (e.g., arranging/overlapping the 2D placement plansalong a vertical direction) the 2D plans.

At block 614, the robotic system 100 can calculate a packing sequence(e.g., the stacking sequence 530 of FIG. 5B) based on the stacking plan502. As an example, the packing sequence can be for identification ofthe placing order of the available packages 362. In some embodiments, asillustrated at block 662, the robotic system 100 can calculate thepacking sequence layer-by-layer. In other words, the robotic system 100can calculate the packing sequence for each layer and then connect thesequences according to the order/position of the layers from bottom totop. In calculating the packing sequence, in some embodiments, therobotic system 100 can adjust the placement plans as illustrated atblock 672. For example, the robotic system 100 can adjust the placementplans by reassigning one or more of the packages (e.g., packages withheights that increase the collision probabilities for subsequentmanipulations/transfers) from a lower-layer placement plan to ahigher-layer placement plan. Any packages supported by the reassignedpackage can also be reassigned to a further higher layer. In otherwords, the reassigned packages can remain at the same horizontalplacement and be associated with a higher layer, such that the packagescan be placed later as illustrated in FIG. 5B. At block 674, the roboticsystem 100 can calculate the packing sequence (e.g., the stackingsequence 530) based on the adjusted placement plan, such as bypacking/manipulating objects that are assigned in the higher layersafter the objects assigned in the lower layers.

In other embodiments, as illustrated at block 664, the robotic system100 can calculate the packing sequence regardless/independent of thelayer assignments. In other words, the robotic system 100 can calculatethe packing sequence such that packages assigned to a lower layer may beplaced after packages assigned to a higher layer.

In calculating the packing sequence, both within or across layers, therobotic system 100 can analyze the locations of the packages in thestacking plan 502 according to one or more package dimensions (e.g.,heights), relative placement locations, or a combination thereof. Forexample, the robotic system 100 can sequence placements of boxes furtheraway from a unit/reference location (e.g., location of the palletizingrobot) before closer assigned packages. Also, the robotic system 100 canplace the taller/heavier packages earlier when their assigned locationsare along the perimeters of the placement plan and away from the unitlocation.

At block 616, the robotic system 100 can implement the stacking plan 502for placing the available packages 362 on the platform. The roboticsystem 100 can implement the stacking plan 502 based on communicatingone or more motion plans, actuator commands/settings, or a combinationthereof to the corresponding device/unit (e.g., the transfer unit 104 ofFIG. 1, the actuation devices 212 of FIG. 2, the sensors 216 of FIG. 2,etc.) according to the stacking plan 502. The robotic system 100 canfurther implement the stacking plan 502 based on executing thecommunicated information at the devices/units to transfer the availablepackages 362 from a source location to the destination platform.Accordingly, the robotic system 100 can place the available packages 362according to the 3D mapping, where one or more of the available packages362 are placed/stacked on top of other packages, such as placing theavailable packages 362 layer-by-layer. Further, the robotic system 100can manipulate/transfer the packages according to the packing sequence.As such, the robotic system 100 can place the packages layer-by-layer orwithout such restrictions as described above.

In some embodiments, implementing the stacking plan 502 can include therobotic system 100 processing the available packages 362 that arrive atthe robotic system 100 out of sequence (block 680). In some embodiments,the packages are said to be out-of-sequence when they arrive at thestart location 114 in a sequence other than the sequence (e.g., apreviously determined stacking sequence) in which they have to be placedat the destination. Additional details with respect to the roboticsystem 100 processing the available packages 362 that arrive out ofsequence are described at least with reference to FIGS. 7-11 below.

Discretization of the tasks and the 2D/3D layering described aboveprovides improved efficiency, speed, and accuracy for packing objects.Accordingly, the reduction in operator inputs and the increase inaccuracy can further decrease human labor for the automated packingprocess. In some environments, the robotic system 100 as described abovecan eliminate the necessity of sequencing buffers, which can cost aroundor over $1 million US.

Processing Out of Sequence Packages

FIG. 7 is an example environment in which the robotic system 100 mayoperate to process packages that arrive out-of-sequence. The roboticsystem 100 can be used for processing packages that arriveout-of-sequence for placement at a particular destination (e.g., awarehouse or a carrier, in a stacking sequence). In some embodiments,the packages are said to be out-of-sequence when they arrive at thestart location 114 in a sequence other than the sequence in which theyhave to be placed at the destination. For example, the package can beconsidered out-of-sequence when it does not match the packing sequence530 of FIG. 5B. The robotic system 100 in the example of FIG. 7 isillustrated as processing packages for placement into a warehouse from acarrier. However, the robotic system 100 can also be implemented forplacement of the packages into a carrier, e.g., truck, from thewarehouse.

The transfer unit 104 of the robotic system 100 receives the availablepackages 362 at the start location 114 as the target object 112 forplacement at the task location 116, such as a pallet or a platform. Thetransfer unit 104 may receive the available packages 362out-of-sequence. The transfer unit 104 can make use of a storage area705 for temporarily storing one or more of the available packages 362(e.g., those that arrive out-of-sequence), until the packages can beplaced on the task location 116 in a stacking sequence 720 defined by astacking plan. For example, the transfer unit 104 stores theout-of-sequence packages in the storage area 705, and retrieves themfrom the storage area 705 when they are next in the stacking sequence530 for placement on the task location 116 (also referred to as theplatform). This way, the robotic system 100 may eliminate the need toreceive the available packages 362 (e.g., from the unloading unit 102)in the stacking sequence. That is, the robotic system 100 can arrangethe available packages 362 on the platform according to the stackingsequence 720 defined in the stacking plan regardless of an actualsequence in which the robotic system 100 receives the available packages362. In some embodiments, the stacking sequence 720 correlates a packageID 721 of a package to a sequence ID 722 of the package. The sequence ID722 of a particular package represents a stacking sequence of thatparticular package. Further, in some embodiments, the stacking sequence720 is similar to the stacking sequence 530 of FIG. 5B and can be partof the stacking plan 502.

For example, the available packages 362, e.g., packages “A”-“I” arriveat the transfer unit 104 via a transport mechanism, such as a conveyorbelt 110. The conveyor belt 110 can be equipped with a scanner 715, suchas a bar code reader, that can read a code associated with each of theavailable packages 362. In some embodiments, the code associated with apackage, e.g., a bar code, can have package identification informationsuch as one or more of a package identification (ID) 721, shipmentinformation (e.g., delivery address), package dimensions, packageorientation details, weight range, fragility rating, plan ID of thestacking plan of which the package is a part. The placement of thescanner 715 and the code on the packages can be preconfigured. Forexample, if the scanner 715 is below the conveyor belt 110, the code canbe affixed to the bottom of the package or the unloading unit 102 can beconfigured to place the package on the conveyor belt 110 such that thecode is readable by the scanner 715. As the available packages 362 passthe scanner 715 one after the other in a series, the robotic system 100can determine the identity of the package, via the package ID, byoperating the scanner 715 (e.g. via instructions from one or more of theprocessors 202) to read the code associated each of the availablepackages 362. For example, the robotic system 100 can identify thepackage ID of the available packages 362 from the code associated withthe available package 362. The robotic system 100 can then access thestacking plan of the available packages 362, such as the stacking plan502 of FIG. 5, from the storage device 204 of FIG. 2. The robotic system100 can also obtain a stacking sequence of the available packages 362,such as the stacking sequence 530 which is representative of an order inwhich the available packages 362 are to be placed on the task location116, from the stacking plan. For example, the robotic system 100 canrefer to the stacking sequence 720 to obtain sequence IDs 722 of theavailable packages 362. In some embodiments, a sequence ID of thepackage represents the stacking sequence of the package on the tasklocation 116. As described above, the stacking plan can be a 3Dcombination of multiple 2D placement plans (e.g., vertically overlappingof the 2D placement plans) according to the stacking rules in which each2D placement plan is a plan for placing the packages on the pallet in aspecified arrangement in a particular layer.

As the available packages 362 arrive at the start location 114, e.g.,one after the other, and become the target object 112 (e.g. becomes theobject for a task for executing by the transfer unit 104), the roboticsystem 100 can determine, such as with one or more of the processors 202of FIG. 2, whether a package is next in sequence for placement on thetask location 116, e.g., the pallet, and places the package on the tasklocation 116 if the package is next in sequence, and otherwise storesthe package in storage area 705, e.g., in one of the storage racks suchas storage rack 710, for later placement on the task location 116. Thetransfer unit 104 can complete the placement of the packages 362 on thetask location 116 by placing an in-sequence package (e.g., a packagearriving at the start location 114 that is next in the stacking sequence530 for placement on the task location 116) on the task location 116, ortemporarily storing an out-of-sequence package (e.g., a package arrivingat the start location 114 that is not next in the stacking sequence 530for placement on the task location 116) in the storage area 705 andsubsequently placing the temporarily stored out-of-sequence package onthe task location 116 when it eventually becomes next in sequence forplacement on the task location 116.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example 800 of various stagesin the placement of the available packages 362 of FIG. 3 on the tasklocation 116 of FIG. 1 or 7, consistent with various embodiments. Insome embodiments, the example 800 can be implemented in the environmentof FIG. 7. As described above, since the available packages 362 pass thescanner 715 of FIG. 7 on their way to the start location 114, therobotic system 100 would have the knowledge of the package IDs andsequence IDs of the packages by the time they arrive at the startlocation 114, which would help the robotic system 100 (e.g. via thetransfer unit 104) in processing the packages for placement on the tasklocation 116. For example, in a first stage 805, when the first packageof the available packages 362 passes through the scanner 715, thetransfer unit 104 obtains the package ID of the first package (e.g.,“A”) from the scanner 715, and the sequence ID of the package “A” fromthe stacking sequence 720. When the package “A” reaches the startlocation 114 of FIG. 1 or 7, the transfer unit 104 determines that thepackage “A,” having the sequence ID of “2” is not next in sequence forplacement on the task location 116 (as there are no packages placed yeton the task location 116) and therefore, places the package “A” on thestorage rack 710 of the storage area 705, as illustrated in firstplacement 805. After placing the package “A” in the storage rack 710,the transfer unit 104 also records storage location information of thepackage “A,” e.g., in the tracking data 254 of FIG. 2. The storagelocation information can be 3D location information of the package “A”in the storage area 705. The storage location information of a packagecan be used by the transfer unit 104 to locate the package in thestorage area 705 and retrieve the package from the storage area 705 asand when necessary. In some embodiments, the transfer unit 104 cangenerate a data structure (referred to as “storage map”) that stores thepackage ID, sequence ID and the storage location information of eachpackage that is temporarily stored in the storage area 705.

Referring back to processing of the available packages, when the package“B” arrives at the start location 114, the transfer unit 104 determinesthat the package “B,” having the sequence ID of “1” is next in sequencefor placement on the task location 116 and therefore, places the package“B” on the task location 116, as illustrated in the second placement806. In some embodiments, the transfer unit 104 will place the package“B” according to the stacking plan. The transfer unit 104 can keep trackof the sequence IDs of the packages placed on the task location 116. Forexample, after placing the package “B” on the task location 116, thetransfer unit 104 can update a sequence counter associated with the tasklocation 116, which is indicative of the sequence ID of the mostrecently placed package on the task location 116, to “1”.

The robotics system 100 determines that the package next in sequence forplacement on the task location 116 is the package having sequence ID“2,” which is package “A” that is stored in the storage area 705.Accordingly, the transfer unit 104 determines the storage locationinformation of the package “A” from the storage map, retrieves thepackage from the storage rack 710 based on the storage locationinformation, and places the package “A” on the task location 116according to the stacking plan, as illustrated in the third placement807. The transfer unit 104 updates the sequence counter to “2” afterplacing the package “A” on the task location 116. Further, the transferunit 104 also updates the storage map to indicate that the package “A”was placed on the task location 116. For example, the storage map mayhave an indicator that indicates whether a package is placed in the tasklocation 116 or not. In some embodiments, the transfer unit 104 may evenremove the entry from the storage map when a package from the storagearea 705 is placed on the task location 116.

After placing the package “A” on the task location 116, the transferunit 104 processes the next available package in the series, which ispackage “C,” having the sequence ID “3.” The transfer unit 104determines that the package “C” is next in sequence for placement on thetask location 116 and places the package “C” on the task location 116according to the stacking plan, as illustrated in the fourth placement808. The transfer unit 104 also updates the sequence counter to “3”after placing the package “C” on the task location 116. Similarly, thetransfer unit 104 places the package “D” having the sequence ID “4” onthe task location 116 according to the stacking plan, as illustrated inthe fifth placement 809, and updates the sequence counter to “4.”

For the package arriving next in the series, e.g., package “E,” thetransfer unit 104 determines that the package “E” having sequence ID“12” is not next in sequence for placement on the task location 116 andtherefore stores the package “E” in the storage area 705, e.g., onstorage rack 710, as illustrated in the sixth placement 810. Similarly,the transfer unit 104 process the packages “F”-“I” one after the otherfrom the start location 114 and place the packages on one or morestorage racks in the storage area 705, as illustrated in placements811-814. The transfer unit 104 updates the storage map to record thepackage IDs, sequence IDs and the storage location information of thepackages “E”-“I.” In some embodiments, one or more packages stored inthe storage area 705 are referred to as a package set.

When the package “J” arrives at the start location 114, the transferunit 104 determines that the package “J” having the sequence ID “5” isnext in sequence for placement on the task location 116 and places thepackage “J” on the task location 116 according to the stacking plan, asillustrated in the eleventh placement 815. The transfer unit 104 alsoupdates the sequence counter to “5.”

The transfer unit 104 determines that the package next in sequence forplacement on the task location 116 is the package having sequence ID“6,” which is package “G” of the package set that is stored in thestorage area 705. Accordingly, the transfer unit 104 determines thestorage location information of the package “G” from the storage map,retrieves the package from the storage area 705 based on the storagelocation information, and places the package “G” on the task location116 according to the stacking plan, as illustrated in the twelfthplacement 816. The transfer unit 104 updates the sequence counter to “6”and updates the storage map to indicate that package “G” is placed onthe task location 116.

Next, the transfer unit 104 determines that the package set in thestorage area 705 has no package that is next in sequence for placementon the task location 116 and therefore, proceeds to process an availablepackage that arrives next in series, e.g., package “K” having sequenceID “7.” The transfer unit 104 determines that the package “K” is next insequence for placement on the task location 116 and places it on thetask location 116 according to the stacking plan, as illustrated in thethirteenth placement 817. The transfer unit 104 also updates thesequence counter to “7.”

Next, the transfer unit 104 proceeds with placing packages “I” and “H”from the storage area 705 onto the task location 116 one after the otheras illustrated in placements 818 and 819. The transfer unit 104continues processing the packages as described above, until a stopcondition is satisfied, e.g., all available packages 362 are placed onthe task location 116. The sequence counter and/or the storage map areupdated as and when necessary (e.g., when a package is placed on thetask location 116 or in the storage area, or removed from the storagearea for placement on the task location 116) to indicate a state ofarrangement of the packages.

Note that the packages are arranged/stacked in multiple layers on thetask location 116, e.g., packages “D”, “C,” “A,” and “B” in a firstlayer, “I”, “K,” “J,” and “G” in a second layer, “H” in a third layerand so on. Such an arrangement is defined by the stacking plan, asdescribed above at least with reference to FIGS. 4A-5B.

The storage area 705 can be designed in one of many configurations thatis suitable for the transfer unit 104 to place the packages in and/orretrieve the packages from. For example, the storage area 705 can beconfigured as multiple storage racks 710 arranged in a semi-circularmulti-tiered structure, such as an Amphitheatre configuration, or astaircase format. In another example, the storage racks 710 can bearranged as multiple rows and columns.

The transfer unit 104 can place the package set in the storage area 705in various arrangements. For example, the transfer unit 104 can placethe packages of the package set laterally—one next to the other—on thestorage rack 710 before moving onto another storage rack 710. In anotherexample, the transfer unit 104 can place the packages in the storagearea 705 randomly. In yet another example, the transfer unit 104 cangenerate placement plans, such as the placement plans described at leastwith reference to FIGS. 3A-3C, for placing the packages in the storagearea 705. The placement plans may consider the number of storage racks,the dimensions of the storage racks, weight bearing capacity of thestorage racks, etc. for placing the packages in the storage area 705.Regardless, the packages are stored in the storage area 705 such thatthe transfer unit 104 can make efficient use of the available storagespace in the storage 705 for storing one or more of the availablepackages 362, and can place the packages in the storage area 705 andretrieve from the storage area 705 with at most efficiency.

The process of temporarily storing one or more of the available packages362 in the storage area 705 and then moving them to the task location116 can be implemented in various ways. In a first example, the transferunit 104 can store each of the available packages 362 (e.g., one afterthe other) in the storage area 705 and then process the packages fromthe storage area 705 to place them on the task location 116 according tothe stacking plan. In a second example, the transfer unit 104 can placethe available packages 362 in the storage area 705 or the task location116 based on the sequence ID of the arriving package as described atleast with reference to FIG. 8. However, the second example may requiremanipulation of the conveyor belt 110, such as stopping, starting orreducing or increasing a speed of the conveyor belt 110. For example,when the transfer unit 104 determines that the package next-in-sequencefor placement on the task location 116 is stored in the storage area 705(e.g., package “A” as illustrated in second placement 806), the roboticsystem 100 may have to implement a plan to stop or reduce the speed ofthe conveyor belt 110 to stop the conveyor belt 110 from delivering thenext available package in series until the package from the storage area705 is placed on the task location 116 (e.g., stop delivery of package“C” until package “A” is placed on the task location 116, as illustratedin second placement 806). The robotic system 100 may then start orincrease the speed of the conveyor belt 110 to deliver the nextavailable package in series to the start location 114. In someembodiments, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to regulate thespeed for the conveyor belt 110 by generating instructions thatcontrols, e.g., starts, stops, or adjusts the speed of the conveyor belt110.

In some embodiments, the first example may consume more resources, e.g.,processing time, storage resources, than the second example as all theavailable packages 362 are first stored in the storage area 705 and thenplaced on the task location 116. However, in some embodiments, thesecond example may consume the same resources as the first example ifthe available packages 362 are received at the start location 114 inreverse of the sequence the packages are to be placed on the tasklocation 116, as all the packages have to be stored in the storage area705 and then processed from the storage area 705 to be placed on thetask location 116.

FIGS. 9-11 illustrate three different processes for placing theout-of-sequence packages onto a platform using a storage area. While allthe three processes achieve the same end result of placing the availablepackages 362 of FIG. 3 on the platform according to a stacking plan, themethod in which they process the packages are different. For example,the process 900 of FIG. 9 process the packages in a “sequence first”basis, the process 1000 of FIG. 10 in a “sequence and store” basis, andthe process 1100 of FIG. 11 in a “store first” basis. Further, the aboveprocesses can be different embodiments of the method of block 680 ofFIG. 6.

In the “sequence-first” embodiment of the process 900, priority is givento placing the packages in sequence first before processing remainingavailable packages. That is, if the storage area 705 of FIG. 7 has apackage that is next in the sequence for placement on the platform, thatpackage is placed on the platform prior to processing the next incomingavailable package 362.

In the “sequence and store” embodiment of the process 1000, an incomingavailable package is placed on the platform if it is in sequence,otherwise, the package is stored in the storage area 705. After allavailable packages have been received and placed either in the storagearea 705 or the platform, any remaining packages in the storage area 705are processed for placement on the platform.

In the “store-first” embodiment of the process 1100, all incomingavailable packages are stored in the storage area 705 first. After allthe available packages are received and stored in the storage area 705,the packages in the storage area 705 are processed for placement on theplatform.

Referring now to FIG. 9, which is a flow diagram of the process 900 forplacement of the available packages (e.g. 362 of FIG. 3) on the tasklocation (e.g. 116 of FIG. 1) using the storage area (e.g. 705 of FIG.7), consistent with various embodiments. In some embodiments, theprocess 900 can be implemented in the environment of FIGS. 1 and 7, andcan be implemented as part of block 680 from FIG. 6. Further, in someembodiments, the package placement described at least with reference toFIG. 8 is an illustrative example of the process 900. The process 900can be implemented based on executing the instructions stored on one ormore of the storage devices 204 of FIG. 2 with one or more of theprocessors 202 of FIG. 2. At block 901, the robotic system 100 canaccess a stacking plan for the available packages 362. The stackingplan, such as stacking plan 502 of FIG. 5, includes details regardingarrangement of the packages on the task location 116 (e.g., platform).The stacking plan 502 also includes information regarding a stackingsequence in which the packages are to be placed on the task location116, such as the stacking sequence 720 of FIG. 7. In some embodiments,the stacking plan 502 is generated as described at least with referenceto block 612 of FIG. 6. The transfer unit 104 can access the stackingplan 502 stored at a storage device of the robotic system 100, such asthe storage device 204. In some embodiments, the stacking plan 502 canbe stored in the tracking data 254 of FIG. 2.

At block 902, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to receive theavailable packages 362 in a series. For example, the robotic system 100can generate instructions for the transfer unit 104 to receive theavailable packages 362 transported via the conveyor belt 110 of FIG. 1or FIG. 7.

At block 903, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to identifythe available packages 362. For example, the robotic system 100 cangenerate an instruction for the scanner 715 of FIG. 7 to scan theavailable packages 362 on their way to the transfer unit 104 to identifythe available packages 362. For example, as the available packages 362are transported on the conveyor belt 110 to the transfer unit 104, thescanner 715 scans the available packages 362 one after the other as theavailable packages 362 cross the scanner 715. The available packages 362may have a code, e.g., a bar code, that is affixed to the package orprinted on the package. The scanner 715 scans the code to obtainidentification information of the packages, such as package IDs.

At determination block 904, upon receiving a scanned package, therobotic system 100 can determine whether the scanned package is next inthe stacking sequence 530 for placement on the platform 116. The roboticsystem 100 can determine the sequence ID of the package from thesequence map 710 based on the package ID.

If the package is next in sequence for placement on the platform, atblock 905, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to place thepackage on the platform according to the stacking plan. For example, therobotic system 100 can generate an instruction for the transfer unit 104to place the package on the platform according to the stacking plan.Note that the stacking plan defines the arrangement of the package onthe platform, e.g., where on the platform the package has to be placed,an orientation of the package on the platform, which side of the packagehas to rest on the platform etc., all of which are described at leastwith reference to FIGS. 3A-6. After the package is placed on theplatform, the robotic system 100 can record (e.g. with one or more ofthe processors 202 of FIG. 2) the sequence ID of the package placed onthe platform for tracking purposes. For example, the robotic system 100can maintain a sequence counter that is indicative of a sequence ID ofthe most recently placed package on the platform.

Referring back to determination block 904, if the package is not next insequence for placement on the platform, at block 906, the robotic system100 can implement a plan to store the package in a storage area, e.g.,the storage area 705. For example, the robotic system 100 can generatean instruction for the transfer unit 104 to store the package in thestorage area 705. In some embodiments, one or more of the availablepackages 362 that are stored in the storage area 705 can be referred toas a package set.

At block 907, the robotic system 100 can record storage locationinformation of a storage location in the storage area 705 where thepackage is stored. In some embodiments, the storage location informationcan be 3D information of the storage location. The storage locationinformation of the package can be stored in a storage map, along withthe package ID of the package and, optionally, the sequence ID of thepackage, as described at least with reference to FIG. 7.

After the package is either placed on the platform or in the storagearea 705, at determination block 908, the robotic system 100 candetermine (e.g. with one or more of the processors 202 of FIG. 2) ifthere is any package in the storage area 705 that is next in sequencefor placement on the platform. For example, the robotic system 100 canrefer to the sequence counter to determine the next sequence ID of thepackage to be placed on the platform, and refer to the storage map todetermine if there is any package having the next sequence ID and, ifyes, determine its storage location.

If there is a package in the storage area 705 that is next in sequencefor placement on the platform, at block 909, the robotic system 100 canimplement a plan to retrieve the identified package from the storagelocation in the storage area 705. For example, the robotic system 100can generate instructions for the transfer unit 104 to retrieve theidentified package from the storage location in the storage area 705.

At block 910, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to place thepackage on the platform according to the stacking plan. For example, therobotic system 100 can generate instructions for the transfer unit 104to place the package on the platform according to the stacking plan. Theprocess of blocks 908 to 910 are repeated until the storage area 705does not have any more packages that are next in sequence for placementon the platform.

If there are no more packages in the storage area 705 that are next insequence for placement on the platform, at determination block 911, therobotic system 100 can determine if there are any more availablepackages 362 to be placed. For example, the robotic system 100determines if there are any more packages on the conveyor belt 110 thatremain to processed for placement on the platform. If there are morepackages to be received, the process proceeds to block 903 where thenext scanned package is processed. If all the available packages 362 arereceived, that is, there are no more packages to processed for placementon the platform.

Note that while the robotic system 100 is transferring a package fromthe storage area 705 to the platform, e.g., in blocks 909 and 910, andif there are more of the available packages 362 on the conveyor belt 110to be processed, the conveyer belt 110 may have to be stopped or thespeed of the conveyor belt 110 may have to be reduced to allow thetransfer unit 104 time to move the package from the storage area 705 tothe platform. The conveyer belt 110 may automatically stop, e.g., if thepackage at the start location 114 is not collected by the transfer unit104 for more than a specified duration, or in some embodiments, may bestopped or slowed down based on instructions generated by one or more ofthe processors 202.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a process 1000 for placement of availablepackages on a task location using a temporary storage area, consistentwith various embodiments. In some embodiments, the process 1000 can beimplemented in the environment of FIGS. 1 and 7, and as part of block680 of FIG. 6. The process 1000 can be implemented based on executingthe instructions stored on one or more of the storage devices 204 ofFIG. 2 with one or more of the processors 202 of FIG. 2. Note that somedetails are omitted in this process as they are similar to what isdescribed in the process 900. At block 1001, the robotic system 100 canaccess a stacking plan for the available packages 362.

At block 1002, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to receivethe available packages 362 in a series, e.g., via the conveyor belt 110.

At block 1003, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to identifythe available packages 362.

At determination block 1004, upon receiving a scanned package, therobotic system 100 can determine whether the package is next in sequencefor placement on the platform. The robotic system 100 can determine thesequence ID of the package from a sequence map based on the package ID.

If the package is next in sequence for placement on the platform, atblock 1005, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to place thepackage on the platform according to the stacking plan.

Referring back to determination block 1004, if the package is not nextin sequence for placement on the platform, at block 1006, the roboticsystem 100 can implement a plan to store the package in a storage area,e.g., storage area 705.

At block 1007, the robotic system 100 can record storage locationinformation of a storage location in the storage area 705 where thepackage is stored.

After the package is either placed on the platform or in the storagearea 805, at determination block 1008, the robotic system 100 candetermine whether all available packages 362 are received. For example,the robotic system 100 determines if there are any more packages on theconveyor belt 110 that remain to be processed, e.g., for placement onthe platform. If there are more packages to be received, the processproceeds to block 1003 where the next scanned package is processed.

If all the available packages 362 are received, at determination block1009, the robotic system 100 can determine if there are any packagesstored in the storage area 705. If there are no packages in the storagearea 705, the process 1000 returns. If there are any packages remainingin the storage area 705, at block 1010, the robotic system 100determines the package that is next in sequence for placement on theplatform. For example, the robotic system 100 can refer to the sequencecounter to determine the next sequence ID of the package ID to beplaced, and refer to the storage map to determine the package having thenext sequence ID and the corresponding storage location in the storagearea 705.

At block 1011, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to retrievethe identified package from the determined storage location in thestorage area 705.

At block 1012, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to place thepackage on the platform according to the stacking plan. The process ofblocks 1010 to 1012 are performed until all packages in the storage area705 are placed on the platform.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a process 1100 for placement of availablepackages on a task location using a temporary storage area, consistentwith various embodiments. In some embodiments, the process 1100 can beimplemented in the environment of FIGS. 1 and 7, and as part of block680 of FIG. 6. The process 1100 can be implemented based on executingthe instructions stored on one or more of the storage devices 204 ofFIG. 2 with one or more of the processors 202 of FIG. 2. Note that somedetails are omitted in this process as they are similar to what isdescribed in the process 900. At block 1101, the robotic system 100 canaccess a stacking plan for the available packages 362 (e.g., asdescribed at least with reference to 901 of FIG. 9).

At block 1102, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to receivethe available packages 362 in a series, e.g., via the conveyor belt 110.

At block 1103, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to identifythe available packages 362.

At block 1104, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to store thepackage in a storage area, e.g., storage area 705.

At block 1105, the robotic system 100 can record storage locationinformation of a storage location where the package is stored in thestorage area 705.

At determination block 1106, the robotic system 100 can determinewhether all available packages 362 are received. For example, therobotic system 100 determines if there are any more packages on theconveyor belt 110 that remain to be processed, e.g., for placement inthe storage area 705 or on the platform. If there are more packages tobe received, the process proceeds to block 1103 where the next scannedpackage is processed.

If all the available packages 362 are received, at determination block1107, the robotic system 100 can determine if there are any packagesstored in the storage area 795. If there are no packages in the storagearea 705, the process 1100 returns. If there are any packages remainingin the storage area 705, at block 1108, the robotic system 100 candetermine the package that is next in sequence for placement on theplatform. For example, the robotic system 100 can refer to the sequencecounter to determine the next sequence ID of the package ID to beplaced, and refer to the storage map to determine the package having thenext sequence ID and its storage location in the storage area 705.

At block 1109, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to retrievethe identified package from the determined storage location in thestorage area 705.

At block 1110, the robotic system 100 can implement a plan to place thepackage on the platform according to the stacking plan. The process ofblocks 1108 to 1110 are repeated until all packages in the storage area705 are placed on the platform.

CONCLUSION

The above Detailed Description of examples of the disclosed technologyis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed technology tothe precise form disclosed above. While specific examples for thedisclosed technology are described above for illustrative purposes,various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of thedisclosed technology, as those skilled in the relevant art willrecognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in agiven order, alternative implementations may perform routines havingsteps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and someprocesses or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined,and/or modified to provide alternative or sub-combinations. Each ofthese processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of differentways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as beingperformed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performedor implemented in parallel, or may be performed at different times.Further, any specific numbers noted herein are only examples;alternative implementations may employ differing values or ranges.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosed technology in lightof the above Detailed Description. While the Detailed Descriptiondescribes certain examples of the disclosed technology as well as thebest mode contemplated, the disclosed technology can be practiced inmany ways, no matter how detailed the above description appears in text.Details of the system may vary considerably in its specificimplementation, while still being encompassed by the technologydisclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used whendescribing certain features or aspects of the disclosed technologyshould not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefinedherein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, oraspects of the disclosed technology with which that terminology isassociated. Accordingly, the invention is not limited, except as by theappended claims. In general, the terms used in the following claimsshould not be construed to limit the disclosed technology to thespecific examples disclosed in the specification, unless the aboveDetailed Description section explicitly defines such terms.

Although certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the applicantreserves the right to pursue additional claims after filing thisapplication to pursue such additional claim forms, in either thisapplication or in a continuing application.

We claim:
 1. A method for operating a robotic system, the methodcomprising: implementing a stacking plan for placing packaging on aplatform using an end effector of a robotic arm, wherein the stackingplan represents a three-dimensional (3D) mapping of the packages along ahorizontal plane of the platform and in multiple layers of the platform,wherein the stacking plan includes a stacking sequence in which therobotic system is to place the packages on the platform, and furtherwherein implementing the stacking plan includes: accessing the stackingplan for placing the packages on the platform; implementing a plan forreceiving the packages one after another in a series; processing eachpackage in the series iteratively, wherein the processing includes:determining, using at least one processor of the robotic system, apackage identification (ID) of a package that is next in the series,determining a sequence ID of the package using the package ID and thestacking plan, determining, using the at least one processor and basedat least in part on the sequence ID, whether the package is next in thestacking sequence for placement on the platform, responsive to adetermination that the package is not next in the stacking sequence forplacement on the platform, implementing a plan for placing the packagein a storage area different from the platform using the end effector ofthe robotic arm, and recording the package ID and a storage location ofthe package in the storage area; and processing, iteratively, eachpackage from a package set representing those of the packages stored inthe storage area, wherein the processing includes: identifying a firstpackage from the package set, the first package being next in thestacking sequence for placement on the platform, implementing a plan forretrieving the first package from the storage area using the endeffector of the robotic arm and based at least in part on the 3Dinformation of storage location of the first package, and implementing aplan for placing the first package on the platform according to thestacking plan using the end effector of the robotic arm.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein: determining the package ID includes determining acode associated with the package as the package passes a scanning unitof the robotic system on its way to a loading unit of the robotic systemfor placement on the platform; the code includes the package ID of thepackage; and the packages pass through the scanning system in theseries.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein processing each package in theseries includes implementing a plan to place the package set in thestorage area based on a placement plan.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein implementing the plan to place the package set based on theplacement plan includes determining a grouping of packages of thepackage set for placement in the storage area according to fragilityratings, package weight ranges, heights, package types, or a combinationthereof for the packages of the package set.
 5. The method of claim 3,wherein implementing the plan to place the package set based on theplacement plan includes determining grouping of packages of the packageset based on a configuration of the storage area, the configurationincluding one or more dimensions of the storage area, which includes anumber of storage racks in the storage area and/or a height, width,depth, or estimated load bearing capacity of at least one storage rackin the storage area.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein implementing theplan to place the package set in the storage area includes implementinga plan for storing at least some packages of the package set laterallyadjacent to one another on a storage rack of the storage area.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein processing each package in the seriesincludes, responsive to a determination that the package is next in thestacking sequence for placement on the platform, implementing a plan forplacing the package on the platform without transferring the package tothe storage area.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein implementing thestacking plan further includes: determining, after the package is placedon the platform, if any package from the package set in the storage areais next in the stacking sequence for placement on the platform; andresponsive to a determination that a specified package from the packageset is next in the stacking sequence, implementing a plan for placingthe specified package on the platform.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinimplementing the plan for placing the specified package on the platformincludes implementing a plan for placing the specified package on theplatform prior to processing a next package in the series.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein: implementing the plan for placing thespecified package on the platform includes implementing a plan forregulating a speed of a conveyor unit to delay receiving of a nextpackage in the series; the conveyor unit transports the packages oneafter another for placement on the platform; and the speed is regulatedprior to placing the specified package on the platform.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein processing each package in the series includesimplementing a plan for storing each of the packages received in theseries in the storage area until all the packages in the series arereceived.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein generating instructions forreceiving the packages includes implementing a plan for receiving thepackages in a sequence that is different from the stacking sequence. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein implementing a plan for placing the firstpackage on the platform according to the stacking plan includes:generating a placement plan based on package groupings, wherein theplacement plan represents a two-dimensional (2D) mapping of the packagesalong a horizontal plane of the platform; and generating the stackingplan by converting the 2D mapping of multiple placement plans into the3D mapping of the packages, wherein the 3D mapping is representative ofarrangement of the packages in the multiple layers on the platform, eachlayer being above another layer and having a corresponding placementplan.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein implementing the stacking planfurther includes: calculating the stacking sequence based on thestacking plan, wherein the stacking sequence is for identifying aplacing order for the packages on the platform; and generating aninstruction for placing the packages on the platform according to thestacking sequence.
 15. A tangible, non-transient computer-readablemedium having processor instructions stored thereon that, when executedby one or more processors of a robotic system, cause the robotic systemto perform a method, the method comprising: accessing a stacking planfor placing packages on a platform; receiving available packagesdesignated for placement on the platform, wherein the available packagesare received one after another in a series; determining a packageidentification (ID) of each package of the available packages; obtaininga sequence ID of each package of the available packages using acorresponding package ID and the stacking plan, wherein the sequence IDscorrespond to a sequence in which the available packages are to beplaced on the platform; determining whether a first available package ofthe available packages is next in the sequence for placement on theplatform based at least in part on a first sequence ID of the firstavailable package; storing the first available package in a storage areadifferent from the platform responsive to a determination that the firstavailable package is not next in the sequence for placement on theplatform; recording a storage location of the first available package inthe storage area; determining that a second available package of theavailable packages is next in the sequence for placement on the platformbased at least in part on a second sequence ID of the second availablepackage, the second available package being next in the series after thefirst available package; placing, using an end effector of a roboticarm, the second available package on the platform; determining that thefirst available package is next in the sequence for placement on theplatform; and moving, using the end effector of the robotic arm, thefirst available package from the storage area for placement on theplatform.
 16. The tangible, non-transient computer-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein placing the second package on the platformincludes: analyzing the stacking plan for placing the available packageson the platform, wherein the stacking plan includes a three-dimensional(3D) mapping that is representative of arrangement of the packages inmultiple layers on the platform, each layer being above another layerand having a corresponding placement plan of the packages as atwo-dimensional (2D) mapping for the corresponding layer; and placingthe second available package on the platform based on the stacking plan.17. The tangible, non-transient computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 15, wherein: determining the package ID of each package of theavailable packages includes scanning a code associated with each packageof the available packages; the code includes the package ID of acorresponding package; and the scanning is performed for the availablepackages one after the other as the packages are received.
 18. Thetangible, non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein moving the first available package from storage area includesdelaying processing of a third available package of the availablepackages for placement on the platform prior to moving the firstavailable package, the third available package being next in the seriesafter the second available package.
 19. A robotic system comprising: atleast one processor; and at least one memory device communicativelyconnected to the at least one processor and having stored thereoninstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe robotic system to implement a stacking plan for placing packages ona platform using an end effector of a robotic arm, wherein the stackingplan represents a three-dimensional (3D) mapping of the packages along ahorizontal plane of the platform and in multiple layers of the platform,and wherein the stacking plan includes a stacking sequence in which theend effector of the robotic arm is to place the packages on theplatform, wherein, to implement the stacking plan, the robotic system isconfigured to: access the stacking plan for placing the packages on theplatform, receive the packages one after another in a series, processeach package in the series iteratively, wherein the processing includes:determining a package identification (ID) of a package that is next inthe series; obtaining a sequence ID of the package using the package IDand the stacking plan; determine, based at least in part on the sequenceID, whether the package is next in the stacking sequence for placementon the platform; responsive to a determination that the package is notnext in the stacking sequence for placement on the platform,implementing a plan for placing the package in a storage area differentfrom the platform using the end effector of the robotic arm; and recordthe package ID and a storage location of the package in the storagearea, and process, iteratively, each package from a package setrepresenting those of the packages stored in the storage area, whereinthe processing includes: identifying a first package from the packageset, the first package being next in the stacking sequence for placementon the platform, implementing a plan for retrieving the first packagefrom the storage area using the end effector of the robotic arm andbased at least in part on the 3D information of storage location of thefirst package, and implementing a plan to place the first package on theplatform according to the stacking plan using the end effector of therobotic arm.